Meetings last from one hour (especially lunch or breakfast meetings) to three hours (if the club meets infrequently).  The format varies slightly from club to club but the basics of meetings include:

• The Business Meeting (following rules of Parliamentary Procedure, usually very brief)
• Introduction of the Toastmaster of the meeting who presides over the program that day.
• Prepared speeches from members.
• Impromptu speeches from members (also known as Table Topics)
• Oral evaluations of the prepared speeches
• Reports from other meeting personnel including the Timer, Grammarian, Ah Counter, and General Evaluator

What is Table Topics?

Table topics is fun!  The purpose of Table Topics is to develop the skill of being able to speak "off the cuff".  On many occasions we are asked to comment or contribute to a discussion with little notice or preparation.  Table Topics develops comfort and skill in handling these types of situations.

A member of the club, assigned to be Topicsmaster for the meeting, will prepare a few impromptu topics and call on members to stand up and speak on the topic.  Members present a one to two minute impromptu speech on the topic which is not known until they are called to speak about it.

Table Topics might include current events, personal opinions or memories (e.g. your favourite holiday, a person you feel is a hero).  

If you don't know anything about the topic assigned to you, adjust your answer to something that you can speak about.

What is Evaluation?

In Toastmasters people learn by doing and also from the constructive feedback and support they receive from fellow members.  An evaluator gives speakers verbal and written feedback on each speech they present.  The evaluator provides a personal opinion of the talk, pointing out its strengths and offering suggestions for improving the next speech.  Evaluations have one purpose: to help the speaker become even more effective.

Why all the emphasis on time limits?

As noted above, all speeches have time limits, Table topics (1-2 minutes), evaluations (2-3 minutes), speech projects have varied time limits.

These limits are employed to train speakers to make effective use of the time allotted and keep them fro going until the audience is bored.  In the real world there are practical limits on how long a meeting can and should go.  Many times we are given specific amounts of time to do business and other presentations in social situations.  The concentration on time limits encourages speakers to honour the time available.

Why all the structure to the meetings?

Meetings often have twenty or more members in attendance.  The structured meeting provides a lot of roles for people to play in order to involve as many people as possible.  Meeting assignments vary from meeting to meeting, therefore everyone gets practice doing everything over the course of several meetings.

At one meeting you'll be giving a speech, the next time you might be Timer and the time after that you might be the Toastmaster, running the whole show.  This keeps you flexible and gives you practice at a variety of communication skills including speaking, listening, giving feedback, being creative, telling a job and so on.

The Competent Communication manual projects develop basic speaking skills and help you acquire a basic comfort with speaking in public.  This manual has 10 speech projects, each project builds upon what you've learned in the proceeding project.  Each project calls on you to prepare a speech of approximately 5-7 minutes on a subject of your own choosing but using certain speaking principles.  Each manual project lists the objectives for the speech and includes a written checklist for your evaluator to use when evaluating your speech.

The ten projects include:  

1. The Icebreaker - a speech about yourself; 
2. Organize Your Speech; 
3. Get to the Point (determining the purpose of your speech); 
4. How To Say It (using the best words for your purpose); 
5. Your Body Speaks (body language, gestures); 
6. Vocal Variety; 
7. Research Your Topic, 
8. Get Comfortable With Visual Aids; 
9. Persuade With Power, and
10. Inspire Your Audience.

All ten projects are open for you to choose whatever topic you like.  Even if you pick a controversial topic Toastmasters audiences will evaluate you on how well you presented your subject, not on whether they agreed with you or not.

When you have completed all ten speech assignments in this manual you will earn the Toastmasters Competent Communicator designation.

If you wish to continue to pursue the Communication Track in Toastmasters you now have the opportunity to explore the many Advanced Communication Manuals (See Educational Advancement in TI)

Advanced Communication Series

After receiving CC recognition, you can work in the Advanced Communication Series manuals, where you’ll refine and enhance your speaking skills and become eligible for Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB), Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS) and Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG) recognition. There are 15 manuals, each containing five speech projects. Many of the manuals are career-oriented. You choose the manuals you want to complete and the skills you want to learn.

Leadership Track

The Competent Leadership manual has projects that will help you develop leadership skills (listening, critical thinking, giving feedback, time management, planning and implementation, organizing and delegating, facilitation skills, motivating people, mentoring and team building while serving in various club meeting roles. It also has specific projects, objectives to be accomplished and a section for evaluator comments.

When you complete the Competent Leadership manual projects you will be recognized as a Competent Leader. 

Public speaking is the world's top fear.  In poll after poll public speaking comes up as something more feared than death.  Toastmasters can help you overcome your fear.

Everyone in a Toastmasters clubs joined because they realized they needed help communicating and speaking in public.  Members remember how they felt when they gave their first speech.  You will be pleasantly surprised to find out how supportive members of a Toastmasters club are.

Do you consider yourself a good speaker?  People sometimes join Toastmasters to learn how to enhance their delivery, better structure their presentations or improve their rapport with the audience.  Even if you are a good speaker you can always get better.  Toastmasters can help you improve as a speaker.

If you still don't know if you would benefit from Toastmasters, visit a meeting to see the program in action.  The club members will be happy to meet you.

How is Toastmasters more beneficial than other forms of speaking improvement?

Many other public speaking courses involve sitting through hours of lecture with one or two speaking opportunities. Toastmasters promotes constant reinforcement and ongoing improvement - you truly learn by doing.

How can I join?

To join Toastmasters you join a club.  If you have visited a club and found it to your liking, ask for a Membership Application Form.  New members are always welcomed enthusiastically.

When joining Toastmasters, you will find yourself paying a fee which may include three different components. One is the standard fee that every new member must pay in order to receive their educational materials (see "new member fee" below). One is the standard Toastmasters International monthly membership fee. One is your club dues, if any.

All Toastmasters clubs are billed in March and September for semi- annual dues for their members who wish to remain members for the next six months. If you join in between those periods, you submit a pro-rated share of the dues. Clubs usually charge dues in addition to the world dues. Each club decides what it needs to charge (for meeting space charges, etc.). 

For most clubs the annual membership fee is approximately $200.

What do I get for my new member fee?

Are my dues tax deductible?

What do I get for my membership fees?

What should my objectives be as a new Toastmasters member?

The Toastmasters program now has two types of skill that it develops - communication and leadership skills.  People can decide to focus on one or the other of these types of skills.  Or they can pursue both types of training during the course of their membership.

Do I have to give all the speeches at Toastmasters club meetings?

Do I have to work through the Competent Communication manual in the order the projects are given?

It is not recommended that you skip around through the first six speeches, as each assignment builds on information and skills learned in the previous assignments.

After completing  the Competent Communicator manual you can begin refining and enhancing your basic speaking skills through the Advanced Communication manuals.

What are the Advanced Manuals?

The Toastmasters International Advanced Communication and Leadership program manuals focus on more specialized speaking opportunities.  These manuals give speakers instructions and suggestions on how to handle these more advanced speaking assignments and allow Toastmasters members to hone their skills in specific areas of interest or to explore new territory they have never tried before.  

Unlike the Competent Communicator manual, which encourages the speaker to carry out the assignments in the order they are listed in the manual, speakers doing advanced manual speeches can choose whatever manuals they wish and can do the assignments in any order.

The advanced manuals take you from being a competent speaker to being an effective, performer and leader.  These manuals offer new projects, covering a variety of public speaking and communication skills.  Members can chose projects from whichever manuals are of interest to them.  The timing of the assignments in these manuals is generally longer than the 5-7 time limit for the Competent Communication manual.

The Advanced Manuals include: