Welcome to Toastmasters International

Since 1924, more than 4 million people around the world have become more confident speakers and leaders because of their participation in Toastmasters. Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Today, our membership is 260,000 strong. These members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 12,500-plus clubs that make up our global network of meeting locations. Membership in Toastmasters is one of the greatest investments you can make in yourself. At $27 every six months, it is also one of the most cost-effective skill-building tools available anywhere.

How Does It Work?

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members who meet weekly, biweekly or monthly. A typical meeting lasts 60 90 minutes. There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one anothers presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the programs success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings and develop skills related to timekeeping, grammar and parliamentary procedure. Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 selfpaced speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking.

FAQ CORNER
Written by Administrator Saturday, 08 August 2009 12:15

What is a Toastmasters Club? Is it a club to become a master in giving a toast ? Astuty's Answer: Toastmasters Club belongs to Toastmasters International, a nonprofit organization

which offers a way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills. Participants practice and learn skills by taking a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian. Taken from the official website of Toastmasters International. For more information on Toastmasters educational program, read here. For more information on the Club's meeting, read here.
"Do I need a certain TOEFL score ?" Astuty's Answer: A basic knowledge of English and some self confidence are sufficient to join the club.

We can also help you to grow your confidence even more by giving you plenty of opportunities

to express yourself in front of an audience and in English.

"Can I join the meeting as a guest ? " Astuty's Answer: Yes, you can. You can visit us as an observer first. At the opening of the meeting, the

club president or his deputy will ask you to introduce yourself briefly. Then you can enjoy watching the activities. If you want to speak up during the meeting, you can volunteer to participate during the table topics or impromptu speech session. At the end of the meeting, you are invited to give comments on the meeting.
"What activities are there during a regular meeting ?" Astuty's Answer: A regular meeting is usually divided in 3 sessions :

Table topics session, prepared speech and evaluation session. Sometimes there is an additional session like joke session or birthday session. Read more here
"Is this club for "professionals" only ? " Astuty's Answer: The answer is "yes". What we mean by professional here is not a profession, but an

attitude. Whoever can be a professional when he/she speaks in a good manner and with good words. We aim to be professional, to act professionally by training our communication -, leadership-, and public speaking skills.
"As a beginning Toastmaster , can I have a mentor, someone who can give advice about my speeches? If I can, how do I choose my mentor? Astuty's Answer: Yes, you can. As soon as a new member is being inducted or formally accepted as a

member, he/she can directly ask one of senior members to become his/her mentor. If you had no idea who to choose, consult with the club officers (especially Vice President Education or VPE). Tip: If you still dont know much about your Toastmasters fellows, just ask your club officer from the Executive committee or EXCO.
Suppose my advanced manual is Public Relations with 5 speech projects in this order: The Goodwill Speech - The Radio Talk Show - The Persuasive Approach - Dispel the Hostility - The Crisis Management Speech. Can I deliver them randomly? Astuty's Answer: It is better to deliver your projects in the order

as stated in the manual. However, if you get stuck in getting an idea for your speech or you want to refresh your mind, you may alternate with the projects of the other advanced manual that you have chosen ( out of the 15 advanced manuals available). For example, you can deliver the first 2 speech projects of the manual "Public Relations " and then give the first speech project The Toast of your other manual "Special Occasion Speeches".
Last Updated on Monday, 23 November 2009 00:37

Educational Program
The educational program is the heart of every Toastmasters club. It provides members with a proven curriculum that develops communication and leadership skills one step at a time, with many opportunities for awards and recognition along the way. The communication and leadership tracks are not mutually exclusive; you may participate in both at the same time, if you wish.

You progress along each track by working through a series of manuals, each of which offers a set of carefully crafted projects to complete. Each project includes an evaluation guide, which gives club members an easy way to provide immediate feedback as the project is completed. Once you become a member, you can begin the educational program right away.

The New Member Kit includes the following manuals to get you started in both tracks:

Competent Communication Competent Leadership Your Speaking Voice Effective Evaluation Gestures: Your Body Speaks

Communication and leadership development

Communication Track
Talking on track
Members who wish to focus on communication skills begin with the Competent Communication manual thats included in the New Member Kit. Once they have completed this manual, they can progress to the Advanced Communication Series.

Competent Communication manual

The 10 speech projects in this manual will help you develop your speaking skills one step at a time. When you finish all of the projects, you are eligible for Competent Communicator (CC) recognition. Complete the CC application in the manual and ask your vice president education to submit it online to World Headquarters. You'll receive a CC certificate and, if this is your first CC award, two Advanced Communication Series manuals free of charge.

Advanced Communication Series

After receiving CC recognition, you can work in the Advanced Communication Series manuals, where youll 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. Of course, the Toastmasters educational program only makes sense from a club perspective. Speaking and leadership skills cannot be learned in isolation; to get the full benefit of the Toastmasters experience, you have to join a club!

Leadership Track
Learn to lead with practical practice
Members working in the leadership track learn and practice leadership skills by serving in club roles.

The Competent Leadership manual is the core of the leadership track. It features 10 projects, which you
complete while serving in various club meeting roles. An evaluator will give you feedback on each project, helping you to improve. When you complete the manual, you are eligible for Competent Leader recognition. Complete the CL application in the manual and ask your vice president education to submit it online to World Headquarters. You'll receive a CL certificate and, if you wish, World Headquarters will send your employer a letter about your accomplishment.

Advanced Leader Program

After earning the CL award you can further refine and develop your leadership skills by working in the advanced leader program. Members working in this program are eligible for Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) and Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) recognition.

Bring Toastmasters into your Company or Community

The answer to your communication and leadership needs.

Toastmasters groups are formed every day in a variety of settings. Groups meet onsite at corporations, churches, community centers even in restaurants. Community clubs are generally open to anyone, while company clubs are often limited to employees of that company and are closed to outside members. The process to form a Toastmasters group is simple and all of the materials are provided for you! You can start a Toastmasters group onsite at your organization, or you can start a local group in your community.

Steps to start:
Find at least twenty people who want to improve their communication and leadership skills. Determine a meeting location to get together for about an hour a week. Fill out the applicable forms. Schedule your first official meeting. Request a New Club Information Kit by submitting this form to get more information on starting a Toastmasters group. Its as simple as that! Contact the district leaders so they can support your efforts, as needed. For areas not assigned to a district, contact infokits@toastmasters.org.

Details:
$125: One-time chartering fee $20: New-member fee per person $27: Six months' membership dues per person ($21 for clubs not in a district) Each group can charge supplementary dues to help cover expenses, if needed

For company clubs, here are a few of the most common levels of sponsor support:
Payment of the one-time chartering fee Reimbursement or payment of full or partial membership dues and new-member fees Provide a meeting location Wonder which companies realize the value of starting Toastmasters clubs in their organization? Find out here! Interested in setting up a demonstration meeting at your organization? Contact corporaterelations@toastmasters.org.

This is a partial list of major corporations sponsoring Toastmasters training for their employees. Freeport McMoRan Underwriters Laboratories Schneider Electric Schlumberger Philip Morris, USA Petronas Carigali Pearl Energy Indonesia Halliburton Technology India Pvt. Ltd. Halliburton Energy General Motors General Electric General Dynamics Google Facebook ExxonMobil Emerson Electric Caterpillar Chevron ConocoPhillips Company Coca-Cola Co. Mercedes Benz Xerox Walt Disney Wal-Mart UOB Life Assurance Ltd Universal Music Group Unisys The Ritz-Carlton Texas Instruments Suncor Energy Sun Microsystems Starbucks Standard Chartered Bank Sony SingTel Optus Pty Limited Siemens Shell San Miguel Corp. Renesas Design Malaysia Qualcomm Quaker Oats Corp. Qatar Telecom Qatar Airways PWC Stamford PT. Sari Husada (Danone) Prudential Procter & Gamble PricewaterhouseCoopers Politeknik Pos Indonesia Piedmont Natural Gas Pfizer, Inc. Petroliam Nasional Berhad Petro Infrastructure Pay Pal Osram Sylvania Orica Nvidia Corporation Northrop Grumman Nissan Corporation Nestle Mastercard International Masjid Al-Salam Manulife Financial Malaysia Airlines Lexmark International Kraft Foods, Inc. KPP Pratma Jakarta Setiabudi Satu & DUA Kodak Johnson & Johnson John Robert Powers J. Ray McDermott ING IBN SINA Hyatt Regency HSBC Honeywell Holcim Limited Hewlett Packard Hallmark Cards Goodyear Tire & Rubber FPG Oleochemicals Sdn Bhd Fedex Ernst & Young Ericsson, Inc. Electric Power Research Institute eBay, Inc. Eastman Chemical Co. (Kodak) Dubai Petroleum Company DHL Dell Daimler (Mercedes Benz) Corel TW Consul Energy Inc. Citigroup Cisco Systems Ciba Vision Corporation Burger King Boeing BMW Bell Helicopter Bayer AT&T Apple Computer, Inc. AON Consulting ANZ Banking Group Anadarko Petroleum Corporation American Express American Arbitration Assocation American Airlines Amazon Alliance Global, Inc. Alcatel-Lucent AIA Agilent Technologies Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Adobe Systems Adidas Abu Dhabi Oil Refinery Company Abbott Nutrition Abbott Laboratories 3M Ford Motor Company Bharat Petroleum Company Ltd (BPCL)