If you can Dream it – You can Achieve it :)

• What is Toastmasters?
• Who joins Toastmasters?
• When did Toastmasters Start?
• Where do Toastmasters Meet?
• Why Should You Join Toastmasters?
• How to Join Toastmasters?

What is Toastmasters?

Toastmasters International is:

• a nonprofit organization,
• comprised of over 250,000 members in over 106 countries,
• represented by over 12,500 clubs, and
• dedicated to excellence in communication and leadership

Most Toastmasters clubs meet weekly for 1-2 hours, and follow a pretty basic agenda:

• Prepared speeches – Members are given opportunities to prepare, rehearse, and then deliver presentations in front of their fellow members.
• Speech evaluations – Whenever you speak in Toastmasters, you receive helpful and supportive evaluations from your peers.
• Impromptu speaking – Members practice speaking “off the cuff” for one or two minutes by responding to general topics of interest (table topics).

Who Joins Toastmasters?

Anyone over the age of 18 can join Toastmasters, provided they have the desire to improve their communication and leadership skills.

Beyond that, Toastmasters members are a diverse group, spanning countries and cultures, and all socio-economic backgrounds.

The Toastmasters International website tells us that:

• 52% of members are female and 48% are male.
• Average annual household income: $85,000-$99,000.
• 30% earn $100,000+ annually.
• 69% of members are between the ages of 35 and 49.
• 82% have a college degree.
• 36% have an advanced degree.

What industries employ Toastmasters?

• 20% Sales, Consulting, Self Employed
• 18% Management
• 15% Finance & Insurance
• 15% Government
• 12% Education
• 20% Other

When Did Toastmasters Start?

The first Toastmasters club was started by Ralph Smedley in Santa Ana, California in 1924 at a local YMCA to meet the need for speech and leadership training for young men. His initial “Ten Lessons in Public Speaking” still forms the core of the Toastmasters educational program as the 10 projects of the Competent Communicator manual. ( It has, of course, been updated and revised many times.)

The single club turned into a network of affiliated Toastmasters Clubs as the idea spread throughout southern California. When an affiliated club formed in British Columbia, Toastmasters International was born.

Where Do Toastmasters Meet?

Everywhere!

Well, not quite, but the network of clubs is growing:

• 11,000 Toastmasters clubs meet in over 90 countries.
• Clubs meet within corporations, in community centers, on university and college campuses, in churches and temples, in restaurants, in libraries, in prisons, and many other places.
• The majority of clubs are still in North America, but the organization is growing fastest outside of North America, particularly in Asia.
• Most clubs meet weekly for 1-2 hours.

Why Should You Join Toastmasters?

Everyone has their own personal reasons for joining Toastmasters, but here are a few of the most common:

1. Become a Better Public Speaker
Members work through a series of educational programs (at their own pace) designed to improve their ability to write speeches, design presentations, and deliver them.

2. Overcome Public Speaking Fears
The most positive and supportive audience in the world is a Toastmasters club audience. Speaking regularly in front of a group helps you calm your nerves and communicate effectively.

3. “Practice” Presentations for Other Audiences
Everyone has different motivations for wanting to speak better. Maybe you want to hone your presentation skills for your career. Perhaps you want to be able to speak out in your volunteer organization. Maybe you want to complement your portfolio as an author, manager, or other professional with speaking gigs? Whatever the case, Toastmasters is a wonderful laboratory for you to practice your presentations and gain valuable feedback.

4. Gain the Confidence and Courage to Lead
Leadership and communication skills are intimately bound. Some might argue that leadership is nothing more than the ability to effectively communicate a vision. As your communication skills improve, your ability to lead will improve as well.

How to Join Toastmasters?

1. Search the Toastmasters club database to find clubs where you live.

2. If you live in an urban area, you may have many options. Narrow the list down based on the time of day (morning, mid-day, evening) or day of the week (most clubs meet Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday) that works best for you.

3. Visit several clubs (if the options exist). Don’t settle for the first club you find. Every club has a unique club culture. Find the one that suits you the best.

4. Sign up. Toastmasters dues are inexpensive, particularly compared to other training options.

5. Commit yourself to excellence. Toastmasters is a program where you only get out in proportion to what you put in.

1. Research a topic – Good speakers stick to what they know. Great speakers research what they need to convey their message.

2. Focus – Help your audience grasp your message by focusing on your message. Stories, humour, or other “sidebars” should connect to the core idea. Anything that doesn’t needs to be edited out.

3. Organize ideas logically – A well-organized presentation can be absorbed with minimal mental strain. Bridging is key.

4. Employ quotations, facts, and statistics – Don’t include these for the sake of including them, but do use them appropriately to complement your ideas.

5. Master metaphors – Metaphors enhance the understandability of the message in a way that direct language often can not.

6. Tell a story – Everyone loves a story. Points wrapped up in a story are more memorable, too!

7. Start strongandclose stronger – The body of your presentation should be strong too, but your audience will remember your first and last words (if, indeed, they remember anything at all).

8. Incorporate humour – Knowing when to use humour is essential. So is developing the comedic timing to deliver it with greatest effect.

9. Vary vocal pace, tone, and volume – A monotone voice is like fingernails on the chalkboard.

10. Punctuate words withgestures – Gestures should complement your words in harmony. Tell them how big the fish was, and show them with your arms.

11. Utilize 3-dimensional space – Chaining yourself to the lectern limits the energy and passion you can exhibit. Lose the notes, and lose the chain.

12. Complement words with visual aids – Visual aids should aid the message; they should not be the message. Read slide:ology or thePresentation Zen book and adopt the techniques.

13. Analyze the audience –Deliver the message they want (or need) to hear.

14. Connect with the audience – Eye contact is only the first step. Aim to have the audience conclude “This speaker is just like me!” The sooner, the better.

15. Interact with the audience – Ask questions (and care about the answers). Solicit volunteers. Make your presentation a dialogue.

16. Conduct a Q&A session – Not every speaking opportunity affords a Q&A session, but understand how to lead one productively. Use the Q&A to solidify the impression that you are an expert, not (just) a speaker.

17. Lead a discussion – Again, not every speaking opportunity affords time for a discussion, but know how to engage the audience productively.

18. Obey time constraints – Maybe you have 2 minutes. Maybe you have 45. Either way, customize your presentation to fit the time allowed, and respect your audience by not going over time.

19. Craft an introduction – Set the context and make sure the audience is ready to go, whether the introduction is for you or for someone else.

20. Exhibit confidence and poise – These qualities are sometimes difficult for a speaker to attain, but easy for an audience to sense.

21. Handle unexpected issues smoothly – Maybe the lights will go out. Maybe the projector is dead. Have a plan to handle every situation.

22. Be coherent when speaking off the cuff – Impromptu speaking (before, after, or during a presentation) leaves a lasting impression too. Doing it well tells the audience that you are personable, and that you are an expert who knows their stuff beyond the slides and prepared speech.

23. Seek and utilize feedback – Understand that no presentation or presenter (yes, even you!) is perfect. Aim for continuous improvement, and understand that the best way to improve is to solicit candid feedback from as many people as you can.

24. Listen critically and analyze other speakers – Study the strengths and weakness of other speakers.

25. Act and speak ethically – Since public speaking fears are so common, realize the tremendous power of influence that you hold. Use this power responsibly.