RESOURCES

Here is a short description of the first 10 Competent Communicator speeches, taken from Six Minutes Speaking and Presentation Skills:

1. Speech 1: The Ice Breaker — The first speech of the Toastmasters program is about introducing yourself to your peers, providing a benchmark for your current skill level, and standing and speaking without falling over.
2. Speech 2: Organize Your Speech — Introduces the basic concepts of organizing a speech around a speech outline.
3. Speech 3: Get to the Point — Clearly state your speech goal, and make sure that every element of your speech focuses on that goal.
4. Speech 4: How to Say It — Examines word choice, sentence structure, and rhetorical devices.
5. Speech 5: Your Body Speaks — Shows how to complement words with posture, stance, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact.
6. Speech 6: Vocal Variety — Guides you to add life to your voice with variations in pitch, pace, power, and pauses.
7. Speech 7: Research Your Topic — Addresses the importance of backing up your arguments with evidence, and touches on the types of evidence to use.
8. Speech 8: Get Comfortable With Visual Aids — Examines the use of slides, transparencies, flip charts, whiteboards, or props.
9. Speech 9: Persuade With Power — Discusses audience analysis and the different forms of persuasion available to a speaker.
10. Speech 10: Inspire Your Audience — The last of ten speeches, this project challenges the speaker to draw all their skills together to deliver a powerful inspirational message.

For a more complete description of each of the speeches, please see this overview of first ten speeches.

Toastmaster

The Toastmaster is a meeting’s director and host.

Timer

A Timer is responsible for monitoring the time of meeting segments and speakers.

Grammarian

The Grammarian helps club members improve their grammar and vocabulary. In our club meetings the Grammarian also performs the responsibilities of the Ah Counter.

Wordmaster

The Wordmaster helps club members expand their vocabulary by introducing and encouraging usage of a word of the day.

Harkmaster

The Harkmaster encourages all meeting attendees to pay close attention to the speeches by quizzing them at the end of the meeting.

Meeting Speaker

Every speaker is a role model and club members learn from one another’s speeches.

Evaluator

Evaluators provide verbal and written feedback to meeting speakers.

Table Topicsmaster

The Topicsmaster delivers the Table Topics portion of the meeting.

Table Topics Speaker

Table Topics helps members develop their impromptu speaking skills.

General Evaluator

The General Evaluator evaluates everything that takes place during the club meeting.

What materials do I receive as a new member?

New members will receive in the mail the Competent Communicator and Competent Leadership manuals. The Competent Communicator manual contains the first 10 speech projects, and the Competent Leadership manual contains the first 10 leadership projects. They will also receive a new members kit which will provide you with all the information you need to become a successful toastmaster.

How long does it take to finish the Competent Communicator manual of 10 speeches?

Members work at their own pace. Some ambitious Toastmasters are able to complete 10 speeches within ten months; others need a bit longer and may take a year or two. Once the member completes the manual they will receive the Competent Communicator awards!

What is next after the Competent Communicator Award?

After achieving the Competent Communicator Award, a toastmaster can begin working on advanced manuals. Each advanced manual consists of 5 speeches, each of them centered around a particular type of speech. Some examples are Entertaining Speeches, Humorous Speeches, Storytelling Speeches, Special Occasion Speeches, etc. Once a toastmaster completes 10 advanced speeches, they will receive the next award—Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB). The journey continues to Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS), Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG). The most coveted designation is the Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM), which requires achieving all the previous communication awards, as well as completing the corresponding leadership awards.

What are the Leadership Awards?

Toastmasters has both a Communication and Leadership Education Program. The Leadership Program develops skills useful in rising to leadership positions such as listening, giving feedback, inspiring and motivating a team, leading business meetings, etc. There are similar leadership awards as communication awards, namely Advanced Leadership Bronze (ALB), Advanced Leadership Silver (ALS), Advanced Leadership Gold (ALG), and Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM). The toastmasters organization offers many opportunities for leadership roles and developing related skills such as the opportunity to become a Club Officer, an Area Director, serving as a District Director or in the District Executive Team, and even as a Toastmasters International Officer.

Can I join more than one toastmasters club?

Yes you can be part of multiple clubs! Some seasoned toastmasters are part of more than five clubs as they find each club gives them an opportunity to practice different skills in a different setting and meet different people!

Is there a discount on membership dues when I am part of multiple clubs?

Unfortunately there is no discount on membership dues when you are part of multiple toastmasters clubs. Toastmasters International charges the club the same amount for every member.

For answers to more FAQ, see the Toastmasters International FAQ.