Between 2022 and 2023, I enjoyed a spell on Student Radio. And in between, I discovered something that allowed me to build on the confidence gained from doing it and a whole lot more besides. In the second part of this Easter’s Double Bill, I’m going to talk about my journey so far in the international organisation known as Toastmasters. From how a typical night goes, to what I’ve accomplished so far and most importantly, why I’ve kept doing it for over two years with many more years to come, I hope.
So, Toastmasters is an international organisation specialising in the development of two things: Leadership and Communication. It’s been in existence for 100 Years and yet I only heard about it in January 2023, let alone the existence of a club here in Limerick City. Now, your mileage may vary in how a club meeting is run but generally, a typical night at Limerick Toastmasters has a more relaxed tone and attire but still has the three fundamental parts of one: Three Prepared Speeches by club members engaging in a Path (more on that shortly); Evaluations of those speeches; and Table Topics which practice the skill of Impromptu Speaking. There are also five roles that are mostly filled for every meeting:
- Toastmaster of the Evening, who chairs the meeting, introduces Speakers and the other roles and transitions from role to role.
- Speech Timer, who times Speeches and Evaluations using a Tower of Lights.
- The General Evaluator, who manages the Evaluations and gives feedback on the meeting as a whole.
- The Topics Master, who prepares and asks questions for Table Topics.
- And the Grammarian who monitors the use of Crutch Words and picks a Word of the Day that everyone is encouraged to use wherever they can.
On the point of Paths… Every member delivering a Speech does so by way of Pathways by Toastmasters. There are six different paths to pick from (it was about 12 but cut in half last year by Toastmasters International after a system wide review and feedback from members across the world). The one I’m currently engaged in is Presentation Mastery, because I treat it as learning the fundamentals of Public Speaking and then some. Each path has five levels, which each require a series of Speeches to be delivered at club meetings. A speech can be about anything you want but… It must incorporate the objectives of each speech project. The first two levels have projects that are all compulsory. From Level 3 (which is where I am right now) onwards, you have one compulsory project to be done and then a minimum number of electives to be completed on top. In my current level, I need to accomplish two out of a total list of 14. And call me crazy… But I’ve got a vision to do ten of them! And that’s because a lot of the projects appeal to me and I want to expose myself to a variety of speech types since you never know when you might need some of them in life.
Besides Speeches and Meeting Workshops, all Toastmaster Clubs have Officer Roles that need to be filled year after year. For the last two full seasons (I joined in the middle of season 2022 / 23. A full season, at least in my club, is from September to May / June, which marks season 2024 / 25 my second full season), I’ve been in the role of Treasurer, basically the manager of money coming in and money going out. The other Officer Roles are the following:
- Membership Officer, who is responsible for setting up people on TMI and keeping the list of members of our club current.
- Education Officer, who is responsible for ensuring roles get filled for each meeting and people complete their speeches and paths in a timely manner.
- Sargent-at-Arms, who is responsible for setting up the Meeting Room and meeting and greeting all members and guests.
- Public Relations Officer, who is responsible for promoting the club through PR and things connected to it.
- Secretary, who is responsible for basically making meeting minutes and being there at meetings of Club Committees.
- And the President, who basically represents the Club at Town Hall Meetings and things like that which I’m personally not too bogged down with.
So that’s the Club, but what about my experience in it so far?