For those of you considering Toastmasters, Scott Young posted a link to a great post of his explaining the benefits,
"Why You Should Join Toastmasters." In it he talks about giving it at least six months, which I think is a very good suggestion, and realistic.
I've also posted an article on my blog on what the organization has done for me, about what I gained from my participation in the spring 2004 speech contest season. It's called
"Yes, Talking Fish."