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At Toastmasters,
members learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a
supportive environment. A typical Toastmasters club is made up of 20 to
30 people who meet once a week for about an hour. Each meeting gives
everyone an opportunity to practice:
- Conducting meetings.
Meetings usually begin with a short business session which helps
members learn basic meeting procedures.
- Giving impromptu
speeches. Members present one-to two-minute impromptu speeches on
assigned topics.
- Presenting prepared
speeches. Three or more members present speeches based on projects
from the Toastmasters International Communication and Leadership
Program manuals. Projects cover such topics as speech
organization, voice, language, gestures, and persuasion.
- Offering constructive
evaluation. Every prepared speaker is assigned an evaluator who
points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for
improvement.
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Team
work is the sprit
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The
Tools You Use
Upon joining
a Toastmasters club, each new member receives a variety of manuals and
resources on speaking. Members also have access to other books as well as
audio and video cassettes on speaking and leading. They also receive the award-winning
The Toastmaster, a monthly magazine that offers the latest insights on
speaking and leadership techniques.
Toastmasters and
Leadership
Leadership cannot be learned in a day. It takes practice. In Toastmasters
members build leadership skills by organizing and conducting meetings and
motivating others to help them. Club leadership roles and a leadership
development program also offer opportunities to learn and practice. Just
as Toastmasters members learn to speak simply by speaking, they learn leadership
by leading.
Company
Benefits
A company's success also depends on communication. Employees face an
endless exchange of ideas, messages, and information as they deal with
one another and with customers day after day. How well they communicate
can determine whether a company quickly grows into an industry leader or
joins thousands of other businesses mired in mediocrity.
Toastmasters provides the tools that enable
employees to become effective communicators and leaders all at a very low
cost. Toastmasters training helps employees:
· give better sales presentations
· hone their
management skills
· work better
with fellow employees
· effectively
develop and present ideas
· offer
constructive criticism
· accept
criticism more objectively
Toastmasters produces results. Around the world
more than three million men and women of all ages and occupations have
benefited from Toastmasters training, and more than one thousand
corporations, community groups, universities, associations, and government
agencies now use Toastmasters training.
Community
Benefits
Toastmasters has helped many members in their community service
activities. Using the speaking and leadership skills developed in
Toastmasters, people have become more active in business, churches, and
service and charity organizations. Toastmasters
members are able to organize activities, conduct meetings, and speak in
public as their organization's representative. Some even become active in
local, state or national government.
About
Toastmasters International
Toastmasters International is a non-profit organization governed by a
Board of Directors elected by the membership. The first Toastmasters club
was established on October 22, 1924, in Santa Ana, California,
by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley, who conceived and
developed the idea of helping others to speak more effectively. More
clubs were formed, and Toastmasters International was incorporated under California law on
December 19, 1932.
Toastmasters International's business and services are administered by
its World Headquarters, located in Rancho Santa Margarita, California. It
employs no paid promoters or instructors. It has no salaried staff except
the Executive Director and World Headquarters staff, who
provide services to the clubs and Districts.
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