Ridgeway Speakers Club
A typical meeting
The basic meeting format is laid down by Toastmasters International. Clubs can vary their programmes, but a standard meeting consists of a Table Topics Session and 2-3 prepared speeches.
At the Ridgeway club, at the discretion of the President, the meeting starts with a 'warm-up' when everybody present, with the possible exception of guests, stands up and introduces themselves, and is also given 15-30 seconds to give a short view on a subject, which can be anything from 'your favourite book' to what you think of the single European currency.
The meeting proper starts with the Topics Session which is chaired by a Topics Master, who will give about half a dozen lucky people the chance to talk for two minutes, totally unprepared, on a subject given to them. This session, including all the speakers, is then evaluated by the Topics Evaluator.
After the break come the prepared speeches, usually of around 5-7 minutes each, although more advanced assignments can be longer. On joining, Toastmasters are issued with manuals. The first of these is the Competent Toastmaster Manual, which has ten assignments to guide them through various aspects of speaking, such as vocal variety and hand gestures. Later manuals offer specialisations, depending on the direction the speaker wishes to take, such as entertaining speeches or informative speeches.
After the speeches, each speech is evaluated by another member of the club. A good evaluator will encourage the speaker on the good aspects of their speech, and make one or two positive suggestions for improving their presentation.
Finally there is the General Evaluation, when the General Evaluator for the evening will give his/her thoughts on how the meeting has been run, and also evaluates the evaluators on how they dealt with the main speakers.
Everybody present votes for the best speaker, evaluator, and topics speaker.
All the roles at meetings are swapped around so that all members get the chance to try different aspects of speaking.
Just reading this, it may sound a little daunting, but remember that everybody there is, or has been, in the same boat as you, and is there to encourage you! Come along and dispel those fears and have some fun at the same time.