Tips for Toastmasters
Better meetings. Fairer contests. Stronger speakers.
Practical, experience-tested articles for club officers, contest organizers and anyone who wants to get more from Toastmasters.
Deliberate Practice in Public Speaking
As Malcolm Gladwell writes about in his popular book, “Outliers: The Story of Success,” an intensive practice regimen can result in people becoming stunning experts…
Table Topics Timing Discrepencies
Not many Toastmasters know this, but Toastmasters International is inconsistent on how to time Table Topics. The back of the Competent Communication manual provides…
Don’t Wish Contestants “Good Luck”
Around contest season, I often find people wishing me “good luck” or hear them saying it to other contestants. That always seemed strange to me, especially when a…
Avoid These Common Speech Contest Mistakes
Over the years, I’m sorry to say I’ve seen certain easily preventable challenges occur time and again. Don’t get me wrong: I know running a contest is very hard…
Start on Time
“We’ll wait a few more minutes for more people to show up before we start the meeting.” “This meeting is now called to order. Now we will recess for five minutes…
The Five Minute Rule
How long does it take after the meeting starts before your prepared speaker begins? How long after the first opening sound of a conference keynote before the…
How Do I Get More Members to Sign Up for Speeches?
Some fortunate clubs are packed full of eager speakers competing for limited speaking slots. However, others find themselves challenged to get multiple speakers on…
Special Halloween Meeting Ideas
Hopefully you try to have fun themes for your Toastmasters meetings. But how can you go above and beyond that, for special meetings like the one closest to…
Use the Right Questions for Your Table Topics Contests
All contestants must compete on a level playing field, as much as is possible. Not only does this mean everyone should have identical competition situations (as…
How to Make a Homemade Club Banner Stand
Benefits of a Do-It-Yourself Banner Stand Every type of banner stand has their disadvantages. I believe that for many clubs, the best solution is to make your own.…
What Should I Use for a Club Banner Stand?
Once you have your beautiful, bold Toastmasters club banner, you face a new problem: where do you put it? The official Toastmasters Banner Stand is insanely…
What Membership Eligibility Requirements Can a Club Have?
Many Toastmasters clubs are wide open to anyone who is 18 or older, can pay dues and is voted into the club. When a club is listed as “membership eligibility…
Sergeant at Arms Training
In January of 2014, I had the opportunity to train sergeants at arms at a COT (Club Officer Training) event in District 55. You know what officer training needs?…
Digital Handouts for TLI Sessions
In December 2013 and January 2014, I delivered a number of workshops in the Toastmasters Leadership Institute for San Antonio. Here are my notes on what I did in my…
Ballot Counting FAQs
General Ballot Counting Procedure Ballot Collection Ballot counters should spread around room; wait for judges to hold up folded ballot slips and collect them. The…
Does the Audience Need to Wait for the Ballot Counters?
The final contestant for a speech event finishes speaking. Everyone waits in silence, allowing as much time as necessary for the quasi-anonymous judges to finish…
Finding and Managing Club Facilities
One of the greatest challenges in setting up a new club is selecting a place to meet. Sometimes you have to find a new location for an existing club for several…
What’s in a Theme? Toastmasters Meeting Themes
To liven things up, clubs are encouraged to set unusual and fun themes for their meetings. Note that this is completely different from the Vice President…
Club Supplies
The treasurer should have a budget for buying new club supplies through the course of the year as appropriate. The sergeant at arms should monitor the club…
Moments of Truth / DCP Training
Moments of Truth Moments of Truth is a Toastmasters International club quality checklist of sorts. 36 points address what they feel makes a big difference in how…
Contest Order Matters
Some Toastmasters are concerned that speaking order makes a huge difference in who wins or loses a contest—more so than actual skill. Unfortunately, they are right.…
Social Event Ideas
The “Moments of Truth” manual suggests it is important for clubs to hold occasional social events for their members to get to know each other outside the club. Some…
Inter Club Event Ideas
The “Moments of Truth” manual suggests it is important for clubs to work together to hold special events where members meet members from other clubs. Bear in mind…
Why an Ah Bell?
Toastmasters International has this to say about the Ah Counter: The purpose of the Ah-Counter is to note any word or sound used as a crutch by anyone who speaks…
Running a Business Meeting in Toastmasters
If you ever have trouble falling asleep, read through Toastmasters Policy and Protocol or Robert’s Rules of Order. After a few months of intense study, you’ll know…
How Do I Get a Quorum for a Business Meeting?
“Quorum” simply means that enough people are represented to make a vote valid. (One would think in this day and age, electronic voting would mean everyone would get…
Voting to Accept New Members
Does your club hold an official club vote on every new member who wishes to join? If not, they should. The Toastmasters Club Constitution for Member Clubs of…
President Training
On December 14, 2013 I had the honor of delivering a Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) session to teach attendees about how to be a club president in…
Do Clubs Need to Recite the Pledge of Allegiance?
In District 55, some Toastmasters are quite certain that every club meeting, every contest, every event should open with the Pledge of Allegiance, and teach this to…
Table Topics Training
On December 14, 2013 I had the honor of delivering a Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) session to teach attendees about how to run Table Topics in their…
How Can I Give Better Impromptu Speeches?
Table Topics are often undervalued in Toastmasters. Sure, they’re fun. Sure, they are a great way to break the ice with people not yet comfortable giving a full…
How Do I Use the Gavel in Toastmasters?
Passing the Gavel Extend the gavel handle first when passing it off (for example, in an officer induction ceremony) Sounding the Gavel How many times do you pound…
Table Topics Ideas
Table Topics can be far and away the most creative part of the meeting! Not just in what the Table Topics speakers say, but what the Topicsmaster comes up with.…
Should Table Topics be Evaluated?
Page 71 of the Competent Communication manual briefly mentions that the general evaluator is responsible for the members of the evaluation team, including the…
How to Run Table Topics
Table Topics: when anyone can have the chance to speak impromptu for 1-2 minutes. It’s fun, it prepares you for job interviews, it helps you learn to give speeches…
Does the President or Sergeant at Arms Open Club Meetings?
Some clubs—even some divisions—mistakenly believe the SAA opens meetings, then turns control over to the President, who turns control over to the Toastmaster of the…
Why Prepared Speeches Should Always Come Before Impromptu
I firmly believe, for both regular meetings and contests, that prepared speeches should be scheduled on the agenda before impromptu events. For club meetings, this…
The Importance of Authenticity
“Friends, Romans, Countrymen!” A common challenge for speakers as they get more experienced—and I’ve struggled with this myself—is to avoid the temptation to talk…
Speaking Tips from the author of the “Four Hour Work Week”
Tim Ferriss has established quite a reputation for himself as someone who accomplishes a lot, very quickly. Author of books like “The Four Hour Work Week” and “The…
The Dr. Fox Effect
It wasn’t until recently that I read about the “Dr. Fox Effect,” but I immediately thought “that explains so much!” The Dr. Fox Effect is a term for the phenomenon…
Why are Table Topics called “Table Topics”?
Have you ever wondered why we call our impromptu speaking exercises “Table Topics”? I have—so I asked Toastmasters International to get it straight from the horse’s…
Toastmaster Mentoring Programs
One of the duties of the Vice President Education is running a mentoring program for people in the club. Here are some tips and answers to common questions on…
Why You Should Unhand Your Handouts
Your presentation handouts may be doing more harm than good, in a number of ways. They can be expensive. Each black-and-white page may cost 5-10 cents. Each color…
Table Topics Before or After Speeches?
Mandating the order of different meeting segments may seem silly and unimportant. It may seem strange that experienced Toastmasters can have very strong conflicting…
Can Toastmasters Open a Meeting With Prayer?
Many of the clubs here in District 55 open their meetings with prayer and the pledge of allegiance. Some seem to feel that this is more than tradition–it’s How…
Studies Show You Should Never Say “Studies Show”
Credibility “Studies show you can lose weight by eating lots of chocolate!” “Studies show that eating lemons can cure cancer” “Studies show that people fear public…
Do People Really Fear Public Speaking More Than Death?
According to most studies, people’s number one fear is public speaking. Number two is death. Death is number two. Does that seem right? That means to the average…
Ballot Counting - Who and How
For those clubs that choose to vote for Best Speaker, Best Table Topics, etc. there can be some differences from club to club in how this is carried out. Should…
What Makes a Good Word of the Day?
How to pick a good word of the day? A good word of the day... IS related to the theme. If you don’t know what the theme is, ask the Toastmaster of the Day. For…
Random Tips for Vice Presidents of Membership
1. What does the VP Membership need to track? The VPM needs to track AND FOLLOW UP with guests, new members, and members not attending. Guests–make sure they are…
The True Purpose of Speech Organization
The Toastmasters Competent Communication manual has a project specifically on organizing your speech. In fact, it’s the first project after introducing yourself to…
How to Build a Cheap Timing Light
You can follow the instructions here to make your own timing light kit. However, today I feel using one of the many smartphone or tablet timing apps is a better…
FreeToastHost.org Tips
FreeToastHost is an excellent way to get a free website for your Toastmasters club, and is officially sponsored by Toastmasters International. You have little…
My Community Club is Struggling–Help!
Membership and interest is dwindling in your community club. What happened? What changed to make a once-successful club suddenly unpopular? Here are some points for…
30-Minute Toastmasters in Corporate Clubs
How can you accommodate members in corporate clubs that only get half an hour for lunch? Corporate clubs and community clubs both have their own unique challenges.…
How to Give an Impromptu 5-7 Minute Speech
I finished my first ten speech projects in a matter of months. Not because I was so driven and motivated, but because I went to two clubs and very, very frequently…
Go Green with Virtual Handouts
Did you ever stop to think about how much paper is used in presentation handouts? Over and over I have seen speakers labor under the false assumption that they must…
Tips for International Speech Contest
Due to copyright and laziness, I won’t write out the judge’s scoring rubrics in their entirety, but here are some tips based on experience and said rubrics.…
Tips for Evaluation Contest
Evaluation Making a good–a really good speech evaluation–is a very valuable life skill, but difficult to master: that is, learning how to give someone feedback to…
Should I Repeat Speeches?
“Friends don’t let friends give non-manual speeches.” You have speech manuals for a reason. They help you focus on different speaking skills, stretching your…
International Speech Contest
The International Speech is a speech all your own. Make it personal, use picturesque discriptive vivid words as 93% of what the audience remembers is visual. Use…
Evaluation Contest
Evaluations are based on what the evaluator saw, heard and felt. A challenge must be given to help the speaker improve. This must be an effective challenge given in…
Affordable Timing Light for Toastmasters
I no longer have any of these kits. If you want to make one yourself, you can follow the instructions here: how to make your own timing light kit. However, today I…
Becoming a Better Speaker
Becoming a better speaker is a process of continual improvement, striving to become better each year, each month, each speech than you were the one before. Step by…