About

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that offers a proven education program that helps improve communication and build leadership skills through a worldwide network of clubs. The organization’s membership exceeds 280,000 in more than 14,700 clubs in 144 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds build confidence as public speakers and leaders.

What’s in it for you?

Improved communication

Toastmasters will give you the skills and confidence you need to
effectively express yourself in any situation. Whether you are a
mature manager, student, young professional, career advancer
or looking to make an impact in your community, Toastmasters
is the most efficient, supportive, enjoyable and affordable way
of gaining great communication skills. You’ll improve your
interpersonal communication and be more persuasive and
confident when giving speeches.

Build leadership skills

While some are born confident, charismatic leaders, others must
work to develop their leadership skills. Through Toastmasters,
you’ll gain the practice to become the leader and speaker you
want to be. You will also sharpen your management skills,
become a better negotiator, gain trust and inspire your team.
Learn to be decisive.

Break barriers, not your budget

Compared to conferences and seminars, is a cost-effective way to learn, and, unlike other programs, the learning never stops. At Toastmasters we offer a hands-on learning environment that provides you with opportunities to give both prepared and impromptu speeches. After your speeches, you’ll receive honest, encouraging and structured evaluations from other club members and will have the ability to implement the feedback in a later speech. Each meeting has volunteer leadership roles for members to fill, including the Toastmaster, Evaluator and Grammarian. This allows you to serve in a variety of leadership roles and pick up essential skills along the way. Plus, new members will have access to a mentor, who can help them out and advise them on an array of topics.

How Toastmasters works

At Clapham Connectors Toastmasters, you’ll learn by speaking to groups and working with others in a supportive environment. Our club is made up of approximately 15-20 people who meet twice a month for about 2 hours. Each meeting gives you several opportunities:

• Conduct Meetings
  • You’ll learn how to plan and conduct meetings
• Give impromptu speeches
  • You’ll give one-to-two minutes speeches about an impromptu topic
• Present prepared speeches
  • You’ll present speeches from the pathways learning experience – Toastmasters education program. Projects cover topics such as speech organisation, vocal variety, language, gestures and persuasion.
• Offer constructive evaluation
  • Every speaker is assigned an evaluator who points out speech strengths and offers suggestions for improvement.
• Pathways learning experience
  • Pathways is Toastmasters interactive and flexible education program. With 11 paths to choose from you have the option to pick which skills you want to focus on.

For more information, visit http://www.toastmasters.org/about