Speaking Elevated

Category: Getting Started

  • Should I Join an Online or In-Person Toastmasters Club?

    Should I Join an Online or In-Person Toastmasters Club?

    You start your search on finding a Toastmasters Club to attend. When searching, you will notice there are clubs that meet in person and clubs that meet online. Is one experience better than the other? Which one do you choose?

    In-Person clubs are generally the better experience. What makes this better is the actual human contact. You can socialize before and after meetings easily. Do you have questions for improvement or want to request more feedback? Did you hear learn about someone’s activities during table topics and now you want to follow up? You can do this in online clubs too, but there’s something missing. Its that human connection.

    That human connection makes performing speeches more authentic. You condition yourself to speaking in front of an audience. You practice moving around the front of the room and make eye contact with people. You’ll feel the presence of others, and in return they’ll feel your presence. With practice you learn to make better connections with your audience.

    If you miss, out on the in-person human interaction then should you even consider online meetings? Yes, you should. Online meetings are for those who want to improve public speaking, but can’t find the time to meet at a local club. Maybe there isn’t a local Toastmasters club, or maybe the local Toastmasters club wasn’t a good experience for you. This is where Online Clubs shine, because you still get a place to practice your public speaking skills.

    In conclusion, look at in-person Toastmaster clubs first to get the full experience. If attending your local Toastmaster club doesn’t work for you than try a few online clubs.

  • What do I do after I join Toastmasters?

    What do I do after I join Toastmasters?

    Have you joined Toastmasters? Congratulations! You are on your way to becoming a better speaker and leader. Now that you have joined, you should understand what direction you will take to improve. Your first two priorities should be mastering the roles and becoming a better public speaker with Pathways.

    Let’s start with roles. Every role serves a purpose. Beginner roles such as Grammarian and Ah-Counter require you to explain your role and present reports in a concise manner. The Evaluator role teaches you how to give feedback. Advanced roles such as General Evaluator and Toastmaster will teach you how to manage transitioning and introducing sections of of the meeting. Master the roles to be ready for business meetings and leading groups of people.

    While you start mastering the meeting roles, you should also work on a Pathways course. Joining Toastmasters gives you access to one Pathways course that will forge you into a better speaker. Level 1 of Pathways teaches you the fundamentals of giving speeches and how to improve. Level 2 has you exploring your style of leadership. As you go through each level you will find the projects will require you to push yourself. The difficulty will rise, but trust the pacing of Pathways. Push through, and you’ll become a speaker you could’ve only imagined before.

    By practicing these roles and public speaking, you’ll apply the skills you acquire in your business and personal life. You’ll organize, transition, and speak outside of Toastmasters like a Toastmaster!

  • Focus on one area each speech

    Focus on one area each speech

    When a person speaks in front of the Toastmasters club, they want it to be incredible. They want strong eye contact, a good flow in speech, a passionate voice, and masterful gestures. Rookies who try this all at once, end up flopping because they get overloaded. Reaching this level of mastery takes time. We can cut the time needed by being efficient. By focusing on less instead of more.

    Focus on improving on 1 or 2 items

    If you try to focus on all the fundamentals at once, your improvement will be slow. Its to better focus on improving at one item at a time.

    If you have you have extra 2 hours to practice for a speech which will have more gains? 2 hours on practicing body gestures or splitting those 2 hours on 6 different fundamentals (20 min per fundamental?) The answer is 2 hours on body gestures.

    With 2 hours on practicing body gestures, You will have time to investigate what gestures you can use, as well as practice the motions. Just like practicing free shots in basketball, you ingrain the motions into your body each minute you practice. The motions become more natural. The more natural it is, the more you perform without even thinking.

    Bonus: Master more skills at once

    In the NBA, a basketball player practices all the fundamentals and skills required for their position. Can’t we do the same? Yes, but there is a catch. You need the time. You want to focus on a skill 2-3 hours per week, to improve. That’s enough to give a small noticeable gain per skill.

  • Become a Better Public Speaker through Toastmaster Roles

    Become a Better Public Speaker through Toastmaster Roles

    If you want to be a good public speaker, then you should also strive to be a good leader in meetings. Toastmasters has roles in its meetings to build a leader in you. Learn to host meetings, transition to others, give reports, and give feedback. By performing these roles you’ll get to level up your skills.

    Look at the responsibilities of these Toastmaster roles:

    RoleResponsibilities
    PledgeDirects everyone to stand, prepare and start the pledge in sync
    GrammarianTake notes of key phrases and grammatical feedback. Reports on this at the end.
    EvaluatorWrites a mini-speech to give feedback to a speaker. Makes the evaluation a learning process for everyone.
    Table Topics MasterLearn to give interview questions to several members, and transition between each
    General EvaluatorGives feedback on how members can make future meetings productive
    ToastmasterFinds replacements for missing members. Introduces and concludes the core meeting. Transitions through all the parts of the meeting.

    By looking at the list of responsibilities you get to see the skills you gain by performing the role. Running meetings, giving on the fly feedback, reports, and transitioning to other members. These are skills that are necessary whether your in a company, organization, or running parties for traditions. If you want to be the person who is worthy of a promotion, gain leadership skills with Toastmasters.

  • Your Fast Track to Public Speaking: Toastmasters

    Your Fast Track to Public Speaking: Toastmasters

    Practicing public speaking skills alone is inefficient. Fighters, Athletes, and Professionals turn to others for coaching, mentoring, and feedback. If you want to do the same with public speaking then join Toastmasters.

    Toastmasters is an international organization dedicated to helping people become better public speakers and leaders. People come together at Toastmasters clubs to practice public speaking. A club meeting gives members the opportunity to perform various roles in a meeting environment. Learn to present speeches, present speeches, run meetings and more.

    By regularly attending Toastmasters meetings you will not only get to practice but learn how to evaluate yourself. By evaluating others, you also learn to evaluate yourself. The feedback you give others will be ingrained into your knowledge. You will know if your body language, vocal variety, or eye contact is lacking. You will go from being an apprentice learning to a partnership where all sides of the party work together to overcome their weaknesses.

    If you’re ready to improve, head over to the Toastmasters’ Find a Club online tool. Try out a few clubs (preferably in person) and pick the best club suited to you!

    Should you join Toastmasters?

    Join Toastmasters if you want to:

    • Build Confidence by practicing with a supportive crowd
    • Challenge your speech writing skills
    • Learn to recover from speaking slip ups
    • Become a leader
      • Motivate others
      • Evaluate others
      • Teach others
      • Onboard new members

    Do not join Toastmasters if:

    • You don’t want to get better at public speaking
    • You don’t want to face a fear of public speaking
    • You don’t want to support fellow members
    • You don’t like constructive criticism