Special thanks to Patricia Nelson, DTM, Edmonton, AB for allowing Midland to use information from her web page which is good info on the Basic Toastmasters Program.
The best way to learn is by doing, and that's how Toastmasters works. You'll start speaking, and just get better and better. The Toastmasters program is not a formal course in public speaking. It is an ongoing series of speaking experiences that will directly involve you in a variety of communication situations.
The principles you will learn are basic to any form of interpersonal communication, whether your audience consists of one person or one thousand. Your membership provides you with professionally prepared educational material and resources on speaking.
The Toastmasters
Club, a Laboratory for
Learning
A typical club is made up of 20 to 30
people who gather regularly (usually once per week) either in the morning,
at noon or in the evening. The meetings range from one to two hours in
length, depending on the time of day. Noon hour meetings are usually one hour in length.
After a brief business meeting, which gives you the opportunity for practicing parliamentary procedure, an impromptu session, or "Table Topics" program is presented. This session gives members the opportunity to speak "off the cuff" on a topic assigned to them.
At each meeting, several members give prepared talks of five to seven minutes in length. As part of the meeting, the speakers are given feedback from one of the members of the club which highlights the strengths of the presentation and may offer a suggestion for enhancing the speech.
Program assignments are rotated among members. This means that every member has an opportunity to try a variety of speaking tasks and enhance and expand his or her abilities.
Some of the duties that members perform include: Toastmaster, Evaluator, Table Topics Master, Grammarian, Timer, Speaker and Chairperson of the Business Meeting. All of these tasks groom members in specific speaking, listening and coaching skills.
Upon joining a club, you will receive the Toastmaster Communication and Leadership Program manual. It contains a series of 10 speech assignments designed to provide instruction and practice in the basic techniques of public speaking. Your first speech will be an "Ice breaker", a chance to introduce yourself to your fellow Toastmasters.
From then on, you work at the pace that suits you. You will be introduced to techniques on how to identify and state your purpose, and how to properly construct a speech. You'll gain experience in the use of vocal variety, word pictures, and persuasion, and you will learn how to make what you say crystal clear to your listeners.
Evaluation ..... * To assist the member, the Toastmasters' program includes effective evaluation. This evaluation of each member's prepared or impromptu speaking effort is performed by fellow Toastmasters in a constructive and helpful manner, utilizing a prepared evaluation procedure that is an integral part of the Toastmasters' program.
Table Topics ..... * You will be given ample opportunities to practice expressing your thoughts in conversation through Table Topics, the extemporaneous (impromptu) speaking portion of the meeting. During this program, all those who are not assigned a subject for a prepared talk respond with one or two minute impromptu talks, on topics such as current events.
The Toastmaster Magazine ..... * Every month "THE TOASTMASTER" magazine, which is mailed to all members, provides new insight into the ever changing world of communication and leadership.