What Toastmasters Can Do For You

 

Your potential is limited only by your excuses.

Whether you work in a corporate environment or from home, whether you are a student or retiree, Toastmasters is the most efficient, enjoyable and affordable way of gaining communication and leadership skills.

Become a Better Speaker
Toastmasters will give you the skills and confidence you need to effectively express yourself in any situation. By learning to formulate and convey your ideas, you open a new world of possibilities. You will be more persuasive and confident when giving presentations and you will improve your one-on-one dealings with others.

Become a Leader
Leadership is the art of persuading others to do what you wish. To succeed, you need to communicate, and you need to work as a team. In Toastmasters, you’ll do both. And you’ll find out how to vary your approach to suit the needs of different people, be they the audience for a speech, the committee for a fundraiser or your coworkers and managers.

It Really Works!
Don’t worry! Everyone in a Toastmasters club was once at the level you are now. The environment is friendly and supportive, and the self-paced program allows you to build confidence with each speaking assignment.

And you’ll love the applause! Constructive evaluation is the heart of the Toastmasters program. Each time you give a prepared speech, an evaluator will point out strengths and suggest improvements.

What Happens When I Join?
With more than 226,000 members in 11,500 clubs in 92 countries, you’re sure to find a meeting near you. Most groups meet weekly or biweekly for one to two hours. The meetings are organized so that everyone will have a chance to speak, should they want to. You schedule your own speaking assignments a few weeks in advance, so you’ll have plenty of time to prepare.

Speaking assignments are varied, with the first one designated as an “ice breaker” – a description of yourself and your life that lasts between five and seven minutes. You’ll be assigned a mentor to help you settle in and get through your first speaking roles. As you grow in confidence, you assignments will grow with you.

Importantly, whenever you stand up and speak, you receive encouraging, helpful feedback on how it went and how you can improve next time.

 

How Does It Work?

 

Toastmasters makes learning fun!

This non-profit organization offers a proven – and enjoyable – way to practice communication and leadership skills. Here's how it works:

• A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members who meet weekly or biweekly to practice public speaking techniques. The average meeting lasts one hour.
• Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humor, gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with this manual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related to specific interests.
• Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and serving as officers at the club and district levels, and by working in the Competent Leadership manual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doing approach, we don't lecture our members about leadership skills; we give them responsibilities and ask them to lead.
• There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one another’s presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program’s success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar and parliamentary procedure.

Thousands of corporations sponsor in-house Toastmasters clubs. Businesses and government organizations have discovered that Toastmasters is an effective, cost-efficient means of meeting their communication training needs.

Toastmasters groups also can be found in governmental agencies, as well as in a variety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and churches.