Greetings!! Welcome to the Astounding Communicators Toastmasters Club. Thank you for taking time and visiting us to learn about Toastmasters Club and Toastmasters educational program.
At today’s meeting, a few unusual things will happen. One thing you may notice is that there will be an inordinate amount of clapping. People will clap when someone goes to the lectern and returns from the lectern. The main reason for this applause is to show appreciation and support for the speaker’s effort.
Another thing you may notice is that everything is timed. One of the objectives of Toastmasters is to get things to fit into the allotted time for the meeting. No doubt, you have experienced meetings that have dragged on and on. At Toastmasters, we observe time limits and practice starting and finishing a meeting on time.
A Toastmasters meeting has several parts: The opening of the meeting, prepared speeches, table topics, evaluations, meeting reports, and club business.
- The opening of the meeting is when members and guests are greeted, the President of the club yields control of the lectern to the Toastmaster and the Toastmaster introduces the functionaries of the meeting and calls on the inspirator.
- The prepared speeches portion of the meeting is the time when club members give speeches taken from one of the Toastmasters manuals. Each speech has an objective that the speaker is trying to achieve.
- Table Topics is an impromptu speaking exercise that will develop your ability to think on your feet in such situations as interviews, business meetings, and conversations with friends. A topic is given and a participant must then speak as coherently as possible on that topic for no more than 2 minutes.
- Evaluations are done on everything. Each prepared speech is evaluated, each meeting role is evaluated, and everything short of how well you clapped is evaluated. This is so that everyone can get some feedback on how well they did and how they can improve their speaking and communication abilities.
- The business portion of the meeting is for conducting necessary business and preparing for the next meeting.
We hope that you enjoy today’s meeting. If you have any question about the meeting please feel free to ask any toastmaster.
We in Astounding Communicators Club meet every Thursday in Mossville Building AC from 11 am to 12 pm and you are welcome to attend another meeting as a guest. Be sure to check out the International Toastmasters Site for more information: www.toastmasters.org
Please feel free to contact any officer if you have any questions.
Yours truly,
Astounding Communicators Club |