“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 while we prepare to begin.” “Oh, we just list that as our start time so that people show up in time for our real start time, which is 15 minutes later” Do these...

Some fortunate clubs are packed full of eager speakers competing for limited speaking slots. However, others find themselves challenged to get multiple speakers on the agenda for each week. What can you do when you regularly face the prospect of meetings without any speeches? Be warned; it’s possible to go too far with these tips! In one club where I was VPE, I...

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 Halloween? Costume Parties What a great time to get everyone to dress up! This can be especially fun if there is a connection between the speeches and the costumes the speakers wear. Also consider a theme for the...

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 much as possible), but that those conditions should not unduly favor any particular type of contestants. An inconvenient contest location may favor local contestants. A location that is noisy or has poor...

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 overpriced at $110. I’ve also heard several clubs complain about it being unstable. A frugal, opportunistic Toastmaster may try reusing an existing tripod or easel that a member has, and hanging the banner...