How Toastmasters Works

At Toastmasters, members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. Members and friends of our Toastmasters club meet twice a month for an hour. Each meeting gives everyone an opportunity to practice:

• Conducting meetings.
• Giving impromptu speeches. Members present one-to two-minute impromptu speeches on assigned topics.
• Presenting prepared speeches. Members present speeches based on projects from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership Program manuals. Projects cover such topics as speech organization, voice, language, gestures, and persuasion.
• Offering constructive evaluation. Every prepared speaker is assigned an evaluator who points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.

The Tools You Use.
Upon joining a Toastmasters club, each new member receives a variety of manuals and resources on speaking. Members also have access to other books as well as audio and video cassettes on speaking and leading. They also receive the award-winning The Toastmaster, a monthly magazine that offers the latest insights on speaking and leadership techniques.

Toastmasters and Leadership.
Leadership cannot be learned in a day. It takes practice. In Toastmasters members build leadership skills by organizing and conducting meetings and motivating others to help them. Club leadership roles and a leadership development program also offer opportunities to learn and practice. Just as Toastmasters members learn to speak simply by speaking, they learn leadership by leading.

Personal Benefits.
Is the fear of speaking in front of people holding you back? Do you wish you could speak confidently to a project team? Are you tongue-tied when the big-boss asks you a question in the elevator? Would you like to be able to speak well in front of your club or civic group?

If so, Toastmasters can help you. Each week, you will

• Learn how to speak better.
• Gain practice in giving speeches.
• Learn how to prepare a speech.
• Get practice speaking off-the-cuff.
• Receive immediate & constructive feedback, in a warm, supportive, non-threatening environment.

Company Benefits.
A company's success also depends on communication. Employees face an endless exchange of ideas, messages, and information as they deal with one another and with customers day after day. How well they communicate can determine whether a company quickly grows into an industry leader or joins thousands of other businesses mired in mediocrity.

Toastmasters provides the tools that enable employees to become effective communicators and leaders all at a very low cost. Toastmasters training helps employees:

• give better sales presentations
• hone their management skills
• work better with fellow employees
• effectively develop and present ideas
• offer constructive criticism
• accept criticism more objectively

Toastmasters produces results. Around the world more than three million men and women of all ages and occupations have benefited from Toastmasters training, and more than one thousand corporations, community groups, universities, associations, and government agencies now use Toastmasters training.

Community Benefits.
Toastmasters has helped many members in their community service activities. Using the speaking and leadership skills developed in Toastmasters, people have become more active in business, churches, and service and charity organizations. Toastmasters members are able to organize activities, conduct meetings, and speak in public as their organization's representative. Some even become active in local, state or national government.

Cost

Have you ever paid $100 for a one-day seminar? You probably won't pay that for an entire year of Toastmasters. Membership cost is composed of Toastmasters International dues and the club dues. Our club does not have club dues. Effective 10/1/05, the TI dues are $27 every six months and the new member fee is $20. The new member fee covers the costs of your manuals and booklets. 

What do you get for your new member fee?

Within a couple of weeks after joining, you will receive a New Member Packet from Toastmasters International in Mission Viejo, CA. This packet will contain:

• Communication and Leadership Program Manual, which is the core of the program.
• Effective Speech Evaluation Manual (tips and techniques for giving helpful evaluations).
• Your Speaking Voice Manual (tips for adding strength and authority to your voice).
• Gestures: Your Body Speaks Manual (how to become skilled in nonverbal communication).