Speaker(s)

At every meeting, members are assigned the role of preparing formal speeches which they deliver to the club. Each speaker is assigned a personal evaluator who listens carefully to the speech and prepares an oral evaluation which they present to the club following the Table Topics portion of the meeting. Speeches are designed to fit the projects in the Competent Communication, Competent Leader, or advanced speaker manuals. Beginner speeches generally range from 5 to 7 minutes, with the exception of the Ice Breaker (very first speech made as a Toastmaster), which is 4 to 6 minutes, and the 10th Speech in the Competent Communication manual, Inspire Your Audience, which is 8 to 10 minutes.

Before the Meeting

Prepare your speech (with the help of your mentor, if necessary)
If you can’t think of any ideas for a speech, go here to get inspired.
Rehearse your speech
Speak to your Evaluator about your goals for the speech
Prepare and submit a Speaker Prep Form to the Toastmaster and your Evaluator

During the Meeting

Present your speech
Accept feedback from your Evaluator and the audience, via written Evaluation Forms

That’s all for now, but before I leave you, one last thing… I get asked this question all the time!

“Does Toastmasters Work?”

Personally, I’ve witnessed transformation after transformation of those joining the Airpark Toastmasters family terrified to speak in public – but then turn into public speaking rock stars! Of course, past history doesn’t guarantee you that same success – you’ll have to make your own intelligent judgements about whether or not we are a fit to help you reach your professional goals.

But I can say this: despite the countless public speaking successes our members have experienced (including 5 media appearances) there are people who race to join Toastmasters, have revealed to them a ‘blue-print’ for public speaking success and yet a few months down the road are still stuck or parked in the same spot!

You do get what you put into it.

I don’t think this will be your experience. After all, you found our blog and read this far so you must be interested in furthering your personal and professional goals through public speaking. Congratulations on completing the first step.

Now, the next step is to stop by as a guest, introduce yourself and watch and learn as we all move forward overcoming our fears, growing professionally through better public speaking and having a great time doing it!

Scottsdale based Airpark Toastmasters, meets at noon every Thursday at the JCC building at 12701 N Scottsdale Rd, Scottsdale, AZ 85260. That’s on the SE corner of Scottsdale and Sweetwater Rd. Please click here for directions and feel free to drop in anytime as a guest.

Happy Speaking,
Dana – President | Airpark Toastmasters

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