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 Day. From page 22 of the officer’s manual (the link should go straight there): The club president opens and presides over every club, business, and executive committee meeting. It’s my...

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 generally means you should have prepared speeches, then table topics, then the evaluation segment of the meeting. (In advanced clubs, I think there’s an argument for giving evaluations as immediate...

“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 as we think orators “should” speak, bombastically thrusting our pronouncements upon the audience. Talking at people, not talking with them. It’s hard to...

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 Four Hour Body,” he explains how he plans his speeches. He admits his lack of speaking polish, but notes the prestigious speaking opportunities he’s had. It’s easy to...

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 where even highly intelligent, educated people will consider someone to be a great speaker and their presentation to be a great and valuable presentation if they are lively,...

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 mouth. Thank you for contacting us today. In regards to your questions, The Story of Toastmasters, written by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley includes a brief summary of the origin of Table...

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 running an effective, high-quality mentoring program. The value of mentors lies, not just in providing expert guidance to help people learn, but in providing a friendly, encouraging connection that keeps people...