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Originally Posted by Crushable  I'm in CT and I am looking for a good club to join, have not found one yet. |
Here is an idea. A Google search is a start, but in my experience you can get far more info if you browse Toastmasters International's own web site. On
Find a Club Results - Toastmasters International you will find 92 clubs in CT. Once you get to that page, you want to refine the search further by selecting your city from the dropdown list of CT cities and towns. You can further filter your search by selecting the time and day of the meetings you can attend. If you narrow down your search to 3 or 4 clubs, and if you do indeed attend 3 or 4 meetings, it wil be relatively easy for you to make a choice and eventually join.
Keep in mind that all clubs have their own written and unwritten rules that they can and will use against you. For example, they might tell you that you can be a guest only 3 times at their club. And then, using that rule, they might pressure you to join, commit and buy their printed materials, right there and then, usually at the end of the first or second meeting. However, the welcome you get has nothing to do with you. They will welcome you even if they dislike you. Probably because A) you're going to be the only guest, i.e. their only chance to make a sale, and B) Toastmasters wants your money, so they do reward the clubs that recruit the most new members.
Here is another idea. Don't fall in love with the first club you visit. To save money and to give yourself time to decide, visit all 92 clubs, up to 3 times per club. This way all of your (3 x 93 =) 279 visits will be FREE. I.e. no membership fees and no obligation to buy any educational materials. Those 279 visits will also keep you busy for up to 5 years. Look at it as TOTALLY FREE once-a-week (or twice-a-week) education course. Your only expense will be your time and one gallon of gas per week that would've been wasted anyway.