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 page may cost 25 cents to $1. Have a 20-page copy of your PowerPoint presentation? Expect 50 people to attend, but want 100 copies to be on the safe side? That could easily cost over $100. The ink is the...

Mandating the order of different meeting segments may seem silly and unimportant. It may seem strange that experienced Toastmasters can have very strong conflicting opinions on this—but the order in which you run parts of your meetings can make a difference in meeting quality. Broadly, there are three major segments to a meeting: prepared speeches, table...

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 Things Should Be Done. On the other hand, there have been complaints about opening division- and district-level events with prayer. Some even say that prayer should never be used in a Toastmasters...

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 speaking more than death“ “Studies show that the economy can be fixed by canceling public radio“ Heard any of these? I’m sure you’ve heard...

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 person, if you have to go to a funeral, you’re better off in the casket than doing the eulogy.Jerry Seinfeld This quotation appears around the Internet in many slight variations. I have heard it...

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 your club vote for these? Some choose not to, and that’s perfectly fine. However, it provides several advantages. It appeals to people’s competitive spirit and gives them something to shoot...

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 example, if the theme is superheroes, you might pick the word “temerity” because you think that would work well for superheroes is NOT known by everyone in the room. Using “gold” or...