What is Toastmasters?

Me with Toastmasters new members’ certificate, August 2009

Some of you may have heard of Toastmasters International. What is Toastmasters? And why should you join?

In a nutshell, it’s a place where you learn to become a better public speaker and have fun making new friends!  It has almost 250,000 members in 106 countries, and is a friendly,  inexpensive, professional speakers’ club that allows you to frequently practice and sharpen your public speaking skills. 

Toastmasters helps you to improve your presentations, increase your leadership potential, become a better listener, professionally and personally reach your goals, and grow in self confidence.  It is the perfect environment for beginner speakers who are nervous standing in front of an audience, speakers with some experience who desire to go to the next level, as well as veteran speakers who want to continue refining their skills.  Fear of public speaking is the number one fear.  Over time you will conquer your fear, and will really enjoy giving your presentations.

Most Toastmasters meetings have about 20 members who meet weekly for one to two hours. Members learn skills by filling a role in the meeting, such as giving a prepared speech, giving an impromptu speech  (called table topics), or serving as timer, evaluator of a speech, or grammarian (counting how many times people say “um,” “you know,” or “so” during a speech). You don’t realize how much you say “um” until you get the grammarian report!

With feedback and training, you learn the importance of a powerful opening and closing, organization of and rehearsing your speech, intentional gestures, pauses, and eye contact, voice pitch and rate of speaking, humor, and emotional connection with your audience.

Every member is  critiqued by another member in a positive, encouraging manner – what was done correctly, and what should be improved. You use the self-paced Toastmasters curriculum to speak on areas of your interest, and you receive credit for your presentations and the meeting roles. You earn certificates as you advance in the curriculum, and can win ribbons and trophies for your speeches.  The club also offers contests that go all the way up to the international level.  I have my eye set on the trophies and on winning contests!

As a benefit of membership, you receive the Toastmaster magazine. This has inspiring and very practical articles, and I love getting it each month.  The Toastmaster  magazine archive is a great resource for any topic related to communication and leadership. You can also listen to the website’s podcast, find meeting locations, and read on-the-spot articles on tips and techniques, the fear factor,  business presentations, and special occasions.

Some famous Toastmasters are international speaker and author Florence Littauer;  Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies;  Tom Peters, management expert and author;  and Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii.

If you would like to improve your public speaking and leadership skills, receive great training and resources, network and make friends, and have lots of fun, consider joining Toastmasters. You should be able to find a local club near you here.

You can listen to Toastmasters’ World Champion speaker Mark Hunter, in his speech A Sink Full of Green Tomatoes.