Education
We all join Toastmasters for various personal reasons. Included among those reasons, or perhaps intertwined among them, is the desire for personal improvement and the desire to speak in front of others better than we currently can.
For those who take it seriously, the greatest benefit we all garner from our membership is the ability to learn with the support and encouragement of like-minded people.
Education in Sunrise Toastmasters comes in two flavors:
1) through your own efforts, and
2) through the critical evaluation of your performance by your peers.
You will need to like both flavors in order to taste the sweetness of success.
What do you need to do?
Fortunately Toastmasters, and our club in particular, is very structured. When you first join, you will be assigned a mentor. This person will help you understand what we are all about and answer all your questions.
Simultaneously, you will begin working toward attaining the first level of achievement in Toastmasters, your CC or Competent Communicator award. This course of action takes you through ten speeches:
- The Icebreaker
- Speak With Sincerity
- Organize Your Speech
- Show What You Mean
- Vocal Variety
- Work With Words
- Apply Your Skills
- Add Impact to Your Speech
- Persuade With Power
- Inspire Your Audience
At the same time, you will want to sign up for some of the various meeting roles. These include Timer, Vote Counter, Poetmaster, Jokemaster, TableTopics Master, Ahh Counter, Toastmaster, Evaluator, and General Evaluator. These roles are designed to help you "get your feet wet". In addition, performing these roles will give you credit towards earning your CL or Competent Leader award.
What then?
After achieving your CC, in the Communication Track, you move on to the Advanced Communicator Toastmaster Levels - Bronze (ACB), Silver (ACS), and Gold (ACG). Each level requires 10 additional speeches.
On the Leadership Track you work toward Competent Leader (CL) status followed by Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB) and Advanced Leader Silver (ALS) status.
Completion of both the Communication Track and the Leadership Track enables a Toastmaster to attain the highest level in the organization, Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM).
Our club membership, past and present, includes two DTM's, one ACG, three ACS's, five ACB's, five CL's and eighteen CTM's. In addition, we host various contests during the year: Humorous Speech, TableTopics, Tall Tales, and the prestigious International Speech Contest. Most of these contests allow members to advance and compete with other Toastmaster clubs from Pennsylvania and beyond.
The Challenge
How good do you want to be? We will help you get there!
Links
Toastmaster Headquarters: Toastmaster International
Toastmaster District: District 38
TurboBase: TurboBase
Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild: LVStorytellers
Software Tools: Virus Software (Free) AVG AntiVirus
As a member of Toastmaster International and my Club, I promise… - To attend Club meetings regularly
- To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability, basing them on projects in the Communications and Leadership Program manual or the Advanced Communication and Leadership Program manuals
- To willingly prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments
- To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations
- To help the Club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow
- To willingly serve my Club as an officer when called upon to do so
- To treat my fellow Club members and our guests with respect and courtesy
- To bring guests to Club meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers
- To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational and recognition programs
- To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities
Meeting RolesYou've taken the plunge and volunteered for a role at our next meeting. On this page you'll find guidelines to fill your role efficiently and effectively.
- Guest "What to Expect"
- Toastmaster
- Meeting Agenda Template
- General Evaluator
- Humorous Speech Rules
- International Speech Rules
- International Speech Judge's Form
- Evaluation Contest Rules
- Evaluation Contest Judge's Form
"This club and experience has brought me from total social phobia to a place where I actually am willing to volunteer to speak in front of small groups."
- Martha Cichelli, AC-B
"This has been an incredible self-development opportunity. It has changed my life."
- Jerry Waxler, CC
