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What
is Toastmasters?
Toastmasters
International is a non-profit educational corporation headquartered
in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Its mission is to improve the
communication and leadership skills of its members.
Many people have learned through practice at Toastmasters to become
excellent speakers, in spite of their preceived fear of public speaking.
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I'm
scared to death of speaking! Why should I look into Toastmasters?
EVERYONE
is afraid of speaking. In poll after poll, "public speaking"
comes up as more feared than "death." Public speaking is
the nation's #1 fear. You are no different. Even if you think you're
really good at speaking, there will come times when your heart races,
your palms sweat and you freeze before an audience. Toastmasters can
help with that.
Remember that EVERYONE in a Toastmasters club is there because at
some point they realized they needed help communicating and speaking
before audiences. Almost everyone will remember how nervous they felt
when they gave their first speech. You'll experience how supportive
a Toastmasters club really can be.
If you're aware how nervous you are but aren't convinced that you
should do anything about it, stop and think what skill is more important
than any other when it comes to getting and keeping a good job?
Think you're already an excellent speaker? People who think they're
really good sometimes come into Toastmasters and find out how unstructured
and sloppy they really are. Being comfortable doesn't mean that you're
actually GOOD. Even if you ARE good, you can always get better. Toastmasters
can help to improve your skills.
If you still don't know whether you'd like Toastmasters, why not visit
a meeting? If you still don't think it's your cup of tea, we'll still
be happy you came by.
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How
is Toastmasters more beneficial than other forms of speaking improvement
classes?
Courses
in public speaking usually involve the students sitting through lectures
followed by one or two speaking opportunities. When the speeches are
over, you get a grade. Often, you get graded on what you did wrong.
This isn't a way to build reassurance and motivation. You rarely get
much of a chance to practice by doing. You get up at the end of the
semester, give your speech, and sit down. Toastmasters is constant
reinforcement and improvement. You learn by doing, not by sitting
there while someone lectures for hours.
For-profit courses such as Dale Carnegie can be very good for their
participants. They also cost a lot and when they're over, they're
over. Toastmasters costs much less and can last a lifetime.
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How
is Toastmasters organized?
All
Toastmasters members belong to one or more clubs. Clubs consist of
at least eight members and may have forty or more. The recommended
size for a club is twenty or more. Clubs exist in communities around
the world, especially in North America, and it's a rare locality in
the United States that doesn't have at least one Toastmasters club
within thirty minutes' driving time. There are, at present, over 9,000
clubs around the world, and most of them are in the United States.
There are many sorts of clubs: community clubs, military clubs,company
clubs, prison clubs, collegiate clubs, and so on. At this time, the
majority of the *new* clubs being chartered are 'company clubs,' i.e.
clubs chartered at and meeting at businesses and organizations, in
many cases open only to employees or members of those organizations.
Never fear, however; there are thousands of community clubs already
in existence as well.
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Do
I have to talk at every meeting?
Toastmasters
is self-paced. You can participate as much, or as little, as you like.
However, progress is enabled by participation. Even being the time-keeper
will give you a chance to speak at a meeting without having to prepare
anything.
Our policy at Encinitas Toastmasters is that each member will be given
a chance to speak at least a few words every week.
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What
happens at a meeting?
The
meeting lasts one and a half hours and includes the following agenda
items:
A
brief business meeting; introduction of the Toastmaster of the Meeting,
who presides over the program that evening and explains the meeting
as it goes along; impromptu speeches, known as Table Topics, from
members and guests who choose to participate; a short refreshment
break; prepared speeches from members; oral evaluations of the prepared
speeches and reports from other evaluation personnel, such as the
Timer, Grammarian, and General Evaluator. Then the awards are presented
for the evening and we have a member present a "closing thought."
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What's
all this emphasis on time limits?
Speeches
have time limits, Table Topics have time limits (1-2 minutes, usually)
and evaluations have time limits (2-3 minutes, usually). This is to
drive home the point that a good speaker makes effective use of the
time allotted and does not keep going and going and going until the
audience is bored. In the real world, quite often there are practical
limits on how long a meeting can or should go; by setting time limits
on speeches and presentations, participants learn brevity and time
management and the club meeting itself can be expected to end on schedule.
Time limits are rarely enforced to the second. However, you will hear
a bell when you go too long, and you will be expected to finish quickly
and sit down.
Most clubs use a set of timing lights to warn the speakers of the
advance of time. All speeches and presentations have a time limit
expressed as an interval, e.g. 5 to 7 minutes. A green light would
be shown at 5 minutes, amber at 6, and red at 7. When the green light
comes on, you've at spoken long enough to satisfy club guidelines.
When the yellow light comes on, you've spoken for the optimum amount
of time and when the red light comes on, you've reached your deadline.
The bell will sound 15-30 seconds later.
Encinitas Toastmasters holds an audience vote for "best speaker,"
"best table topics speaker," and "best evaluator"
during the meeting and it's a practice to disqualify people who go
over or under time from winning these meeting awards.
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Why
all this structure to the meeting?
Meetings
generally are not complicated once you get used to the timing lights
and the different roles members of the group play. Since the average
club is expected to have 20 or more members, you need a lot of roles
for people to play in order to involve everyone. And, since meeting
assignments vary from meeting to meeting, everyone gets practice doing
everything over the course of several meetings. One meeting, you'll
give a speech; the next, you might be timer; the next, you might be
the Toastmaster of the Meeting, running the whole show. It keeps you
flexible and it keeps you from having to prepare a speech EVERY meeting.
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What's
a "prepared speech?"
When
you join Toastmasters you receive a basic speaking manual with ten
speech projects. Each project calls on you to prepare a speech on
a subject of your own choosing but using certain speaking principles.
Each manual project lists the objectives for that speech and includes
a written checklist for your evaluator to use when evaluating the
speech. Thus, if you're scheduled to speak at a meeting, you generally
pull out your manual a week or two in advance and put together a speech
on whatever you like, paying attention to the goals and objectives
for that speech. Then, when you go to the meeting, you hand your manual
to your evaluator and that person makes written comments on the checklist
while you speak. Later in the meeting, that person (your evaluator)
will rise to give oral commentary as well. The purpose of the extensive
preparation and commentary is to show you what you're doing well and
what you need to work on, so you constantly improve.
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What
speech projects are there for me to work on?
In
the basic ("Communication and Leadership" manual), there
are ten speech projects:
1. Icebreaker - 4 to 6 minutes - getting over nervousness
by introducing yourself to the club
2. Be In Earnest - 5 to 7 minutes - continue to get
over nervousness by speaking about something you believe deeply in.
3. Organize Your Speech - 5 to 7 minutes - work on
giving a well-organized speech.
4. Show What You Mean - 5 to 7 minutes - not a "Show
and Tell" speech, this project calls on you to work with gestures
and body language during your speech. Unfortunately, many members
somehow confuse the issue and show up with a bag full of props that
they use in a "Show and Tell" style speech. Don't do that.
5. Vocal Variety - 5 to 7 minutes - work on rate
of delivery, volume, speed, pitch, emphasis, etc.
6. Work with Words - 5 to 7 minutes - work on proper
word choice, avoiding jargon and generalizations, etc.
7. Apply Your Skills - 5 to 7 minutes - go back and
practice everything you've learned up to this point.
8. Be Persuasive - 6 to 8 minutes - give a persuasive
speech on a controversial issue.
9. Speak With Knowledge - 5-7 minutes- research an
issue, write a speech and present it..
10. Inspire Your Audience - 8 to 10 minutes - The
final speech in the beginner's manual calls on you to move and inspire
your audience in a well-presented and well-prepared inspirational
speech.
As
you can see, all ten projects above are wide-open for you to choose
whatever topic you like. Even if you pick a controversial subject,
most Toastmasters audiences will evaluate you on how well you present
your subject, not on whether they agree with you or not.
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What
are "Table Topics?"
Table
Topics are fun! It's also challenging. Basically, it calls on you,
the guest or member, to present a one to two minute impromptu speech
on a subject not known to you until the moment you get up to speak!
A member of the club assigned to be Table Topics master will prepare
a few impromptu topics and call on members (or guests, if they've
volunteered in advance to be called on) to stand up and speak on the
topic. Topics might include current events (e.g. "What would
you do about Haitian boat people if you were President?") or
philosophy ("If you had no shoes and met a man who had no feet,
how would you feel?") or the wacky ("Reach into this bag.
Pull an item out. Tell us about it.").
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What
is an "Evaluation?"
The
Evaluation program is the third of the three main parts to the meeting.
All prepared speakers, as noted above, should have their speaking
manuals with them and should have passed them on to the evaluators
beforehand. During the speech, and after, each person's evaluator
should make written notes and furthermore, plan what to say during
the two to three minute oral evaluation.
Evaluation is tough to do well because it requires an evaluator to
do more than say "here's what you did wrong." A good evaluator
will say "here's what you did well, and here's why doing that
was good, and here are some things you might want to work on for your
next speech, and here's how you might work on them." It's important
to remember that the evaluator is just one point of view, although
one that has focused in on your speech closely. Other members of the
audience can and should give you written or spoken comments on aspects
of your speech they feel important.
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What
are the qualifications of Evaluators?
While
there are no required qualifications for Evaluators, most Evaluators
have given at least three manual speeches. They are giving their perception
of the strengths and challenges of the speech.
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What
happens after I finish my first ten speeches?
After
completion of the first ten speeches of the Communications and Leadership
Manual, you can choose to do it again or to begin one of the advanced
manuals.
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How
do I join Encinitas Toastmasters?
Just
ask any member at the meeting. Initially, it's just a matter of filling
out an application form, giving the address where you want the "Toastmaster"
magazine and educational material to be delivered and paying the pro-rated
dues. Later,
you will be formally sworn in as an Encinitas Toastmaster member.in pr
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How
much does it cost?
Upon
joining Toastmasters, you will find yourself paying three different
fees. One
is the standard $21.75 fee (with tax) that every new member must pay
in order to receive educational materials (see below). The next fee
is the standard International dues, $4.50 per month. The third fee
is your one time club new member fee. At Encinitas Toastmasters, the
one time club new member fee is $5.00.
It's up to each club what they want to charge. At Encinitas Toastmasters,
the club dues are $2.00 per month. Dues are prorated
based on the month in which you join.
In effect, your ongoing membership at Encinitas Toastmasters will
cost $48.00 every 6 months. A small price for the tremendous rewards
Toastmasters can provide.
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What
do my dues pay for?
In
addition to the above, the dues cover the cost of the monthly "Toastmasters"
magazines that you'll receive from Toastmasters International, as
well as several educational programs presented at the club throughout
the year.
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