If you are like most people, public speaking is not your favorite pastime. Yet survey after survey shows that presentation skills are crucial to success in the work place. The person with strong communication skills has a clear advantage over tongue-tied colleagues - especially in a competitive job market. Many people pay thousands of dollars for seminars to gain the skill and confidence necessary to face an audience. But there's another option that is less expensive and held in high regard in business circles - Toastmasters International. This organization has been around for more than 80 years and offers a proven - and enjoyable - way to practice and hone the communication and leadership skills of its members.

How Does it Work?

A Toastmasters club is a: learn-by-doing" workshop in which men and women hone their skills in a comfortable, friendly atmosphere. A typical club has 20 to 40 members, who meet weekly to learn and practice presentation techniques. Our club meeting lasts approximately 90 minutes. Membership is affordable; total annual fees are less than $75.

Upon joining Toastmasters club, our member’s progress through a series of 10 speaking assignments designed to instill a basic foundation in public speaking. When finished with the first speech manual, our members can select from among 15 advanced manuals to develop speaking skills that are geared to specific interest. They are: Public Relations, Specialty Speeches, The Entertaining Speaker, Speaking to Inform, The Discussion Leader, Speeches by Management, The Professional Speaker, Persuasive Speaking, Technical Presentations, Communicating on Television, Storytelling, Interpretive Reading, Interpersonal Communications, Special Occasion Speeches, and Humorously Speaking. Members also have the opportunity to develop and practice leadership skills at various organization levels.

There is no instructor in a Toastmaster club. Instead, members evaluate one another' oral presentations. This evaluation process is an integral component of the overall educational program by members developing listening skills.

Every year, more and more business and government organizations are discovering that Toastmasters is the most effective, cost-efficient means of satisfying their communication training needs. Toastmasters club can be found in the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives, as well as in a variety of community organizations, prisons, universities, hospitals, military bases and churches.