Toastmasters Reviews or Videos

[JimC]

I have been considering joining Toastmasters for a while, but before I give them my money I want to make sure it's really what I expect.

Is anyone here a member? If so, what is a typical meeting like? What do you talk about? How many people are involved in your "chapter"?

If it's a small 6 member club in the back room of some church, I'm not really interested. I kind of want something a little more serious and professional, though I am not sure if we even have one in this area (Eugene, Oregon).

Anyway, I have looked for some videos of meetings, but most of them are quiet or low quality and don't give me an idea for what it really is.

Any comments or reviews? It would be nice if Steve could tape one of his meetings, I'm sure that would be exciting.

But, any advice would be great, thanks!

[edit] Oh, I did find this: YouTube - I Can Do It! Las Vegas 2007

[seeker5]

I've been a toastmaster member for several years. I love it. I've used it to overcome my fears of public speaking. It's free to just check it out - clubs welcome guests. You can visit the club and just watch, normally you don't even have to say a thing during the meeting, although most clubs give you an option, if you desire, to say something at the end of the meeting. The dues are pretty cheap, $36 per semester or so.

As for the membership of the clubs, they all vary so you should check out the clubs in your own area. Because it's a highly involved processes where the aim is to have everyone practice speaking, I haven't seen clubs successfully handle more then 20-25 people attending and have everyone participate in a meaningful maner. My current club has between 9-11 people attending each meeting, although the membership is around 20. I've found that's typical in the places I've lived to have a membership about twice the size of current meetings as not everyone attend every single meetings.

Check out the website at Welcome to Toastmasters International where we are"Making Effective Communication a Worldwide Reality". There's an option to check out clubs in your area and give you a lot of information on what you can expect in meetings.

As for taping, I doubt that'd happen unless they put a professional meeting especially for that. Toastmasters is a safe environment to practice your skills and techniques - I wouldn't want my speeches broadcast to the world unless I prepared them for that effect Just go visit the clubs - people are friendly and nice in practically all the clubs I've visited.

[JimC]

Thanks seeker. I found a few clubs near me and I will contact a few of them to see if I can come as a guest.

I have seen videos of clubs with hundreds of members and others with only 3 or 4 members, so I guess it's all about location. I am not afraid to speak in front of a lot of people, but I do want to work on my delivery, so I'd like a medium to large size audience. I'll check them out though.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by JimC

Thanks seeker. I found a few clubs near me and I will contact a few of them to see if I can come as a guest.

I have seen videos of clubs with hundreds of members and others with only 3 or 4 members, so I guess it's all about location. I am not afraid to speak in front of a lot of people, but I do want to work on my delivery, so I'd like a medium to large size audience. I'll check them out though.

You're welcome JimC. The videos with hundreds of people in attendance were most likely contests several levels up from the club level - probably divisional or higher.

Good luck! What I did when I joined toastmasters is visit a bunch of the clubs in my area and then picked the one I liked the best.

[Gene]

I've been to Toastmaster and have enjoyed it very much. The process used there helped me to speak more effectively. Try it I think you will find it worth the effort.

[Horizon'sEdge]

How handy.

I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks and here are some posts of encouragement. I'll take another look and see if it's possible to fit into my life

[munish]

Originally Posted by JimC

Is anyone here a member? If so, what is a typical meeting like? What do you talk about? How many people are involved in your "chapter"?

If it's a small 6 member club in the back room of some church, I'm not really interested. I kind of want something a little more serious and professional, though I am not sure if we even have one in this area (Eugene, Oregon).


[edit] Oh, I did find this: YouTube - I Can Do It! Las Vegas 2007

I am a member of this TM Club.

The club membership that started out with a handful of members, has now increased to over 60 members who come learn about the art of public speaking.
newdelhitoastmasters » home

You may visit a TM club as a guest.

You may read these articles also.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...-toastmasters/

http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/200...blic-speaking/

[Doku]

I've been in toastmasters for a while now, and I have to agree with a lot of what was said here so far.

It is a positive experience. The main thing that I draw from it is that it has helped me speak more effectively. I never give a speech with more than a 3x5 card for notes, and rarely look at it. I am able to hit all of my topics within the timeframe that I have, and can easily get back on topic when sidetracked by questions/comments, and don't have an abrupt change, or period of confusion.

The "sweet spot" seems to be meetings of about 12 people. Much less than that, and too many people are too busy doing too many things. Much more, and everyone is bored.

--Doku

[robds]

I'm a Toastmaster who travels for a living. I like to vist "open" Toastmasters clubs in cities I visit ("open" clubs are open to the public, "closed" clubs are usually restricted to employees of a given company).

Clubs vary tremendously in quality and quantity. I agree with the above poster that said that 12-15 people is an optimal number. I'm usually what they call a "hip pocket speaker", i.e. if one of the 3 or 4 scheduled speakers for the evening cancels, I'll stand in for them. It's good practice and I have 6 speeches that I give variations on just to get practice in front of a crowd.

If you are serious about your public speaking, give 10 speeches at Toastmasters and qualify for the "Competent Communicator" designation. This will allow you to attend "Advanced" Toastmaster clubs.

Advanced clubs are not for the faint of heart. These are people who are better speakers than you and for the most part will always be better speakers than you. They are merciless in their evaluations of you...but they are almost always correct. These are professional and semi-professional speakers. I've done 4 advanced speeches and got ripped to shreds (nicely) on two of them.

[Bing Wu]

For anyone who is discouraged by the comment "for the most part will always be better speakers than you"... this doesn't mean there's no point in going to an Advanced club. The whole point of Toastmasters is that you can improve with time and practice, and most people do. Many of the best speakers around weren't born that way, and if they couldn't become better speakers than those at Advanced clubs how do they get elected president of the USA, e.g. Bill Clinton?

If you haven't already gone to Toastmasters, go and give it a try. You have nothing to lose, and a lot to potentially gain.