We're happy that you have decided to visit our club and see what Cheshire Toastmasters is all about.
Toastmasters is an international organization dedicated to helping its members improve their speaking and leadership skills by continuous practice. Toastmasters "learn by doing."
How do we do that? You will notice that there are many different components of the meeting and that different members take turns with these responsibilities.
A new member, still a little nervous about participating, might be asked to provide a "word of the day" for the meeting and explain its meaning. This gets the new member involved right away and lets him or her become more comfortable standing up in front of the group.
Each different element of the meeting helps members hone their skills. Everyone gets a chance to speak "off the cuff" in the Table Topics section of the meeting. The "Topics Master" poses subjects for discussion which help teach the skills necessary for impromptu speaking. Guests have the option of participating if they wish.
The evaluation section following the speeches helps members learn their weaknesses in a non-threatening way from people they know and respect.
A new member's first speech is "The Icebreaker," a speech describing something about the individual's life. There are nine more speeches in the basic manual which are designed to teach different elements of good public speaking.
Members completing the ten manual speeches earn the Competent Toastmaster (CTM) certificate. They may then progress on to earn additional speaking and leadership certificates.
Those members who attend meetings regularly, participate and give speeches, should become more comfortable speaking in front of others. Their ability to speak "off the cuff" in business and social situations will improve. Members also receive training in parliamentary procedure and leadership.
While the meetings are educational, Toastmasters gatherings are also fun. Members usually leave the meetings feeling they have had a pleasant evening out with a group of friends.
The new member fee to join Cheshire Toastmasters is $40. This fee includes the basic instructional manual, "The Communication and Leadership Program Kit," which goes into detail on the different aspects of speech making, like use of gestures, voice inflection and speech organization.
Thereafter the dues are $24 per half year.
Dues also include a subscription to "The Toastmaster," a magazine from Toastmasters International chock full of informative articles on leadership and public speaking.
In addition, members receive a quarterly newsletter from District 53 with information on Toastmasters clubs in Connecticut, eastern New York and western Massachusetts. Cheshire Toastmasters also mails out a flyer to members before each meeting detailing meeting assignments and club news.
New members are also presented a Toastmasters lapel pin.
If it's all still a little overwhelming and you're worried that you'll never be as good as some of the accomplished speakers you have heard here, just remember, we all started off with problems just like yours. That's why we came to Toastmasters.