What happens at a Heart of England Speakers' Club Toastmasters meeting

We meet twice a month, typically 15-20 people each time (visit us at our next meeting).  If this is your first time, you will be greeted by our Sergeant-at-Arms and welcomed by the other club members.

You can choose to speak, or you can just watch and enjoy the performances. The meetings last about 2 hours (7.30-9.30pm).

The basics of a Heart of England Speakers' Club Toastmasters meeting

The basic meeting format is laid down by Toastmasters International.  Clubs can vary their programmes, but a standard meeting consists of a Table Topics Session and 3-4 prepared speeches.  The whole meeting is presided over by the Toastmaster of the Evening.  Each meeting lasts approximately two hours.

The first half of a meeting consists of a Table Topics session – where participants give impromptu 1-2 minute speeches on a random topic given to them by the Table Topics Master.  In the second half, members give Prepared Speeches and are given constructive evaluation to help them improve.   

The meeting is presided over by the Toastmaster of the Evening, whose role is to introduce the speakers, and to keep the evening running smoothly. There is also a Grammarian, a Timekeeper, and General Evaluator.

At each meeting, different members of the club take on the different roles, so that everyone gets the chance to experience different aspects of speaking.

Word of the evening

At every meeting one member will select a word which the other members will try to include whenever they are speaking, whether in a speech, an evaluation or any other function. Any word can be chosen, but it should generally not be so unusual that nobody can use it, or so simple that it would be included in every speech by default.  

The word is presented to the club at the start of the evening by giving the meaning, and maybe the background for the word.

The Table Topics Session

At Heart of England Speakers Club, like most clubs, the first half is taken up with the Topics Session.  This is run by a Topics Master, who gives about half a dozen lucky people the chance to talk for 1-2 minutes, totally unprepared, on a subject given to them. 

This is the opportunity to learn how to think on your feet, quickly and clearly.  The subject could be anything from current affairs to my favourite piece of music.

At the end everyone will vote (on slips of paper) for their favourite performance.

This session is then evaluated by the Topics Evaluator whose task is to encourage and suggest improvements to the topics speakers. 

The Table Topics session is great fun, and a terrific way to develop your ability to think on your feet.  After some practice, you will be able to speak on any topic, in a very structured and fluent way.  Very impressive and useful!

Prepared Speeches

In the second half of the meeting we have the prepared speeches, usually of around 5-7 minute each, although more advanced assignments can be longer.

When you join Toastmasters, you are given the Competent Communicator Manual, which has ten assignments to guide you through various aspects of speaking, such as vocal variety and hand gestures.  Later manuals offer specialisations, depending on the direction the speaker wishes to take.  For all assignments, the subject is entirely up to the speaker.  

After the speeches, each speech is evaluated by other members of the club.  A good evaluator will encourage the speaker on the strong aspects of the speech, and make one or two positive suggestions for improving the presentation

Educational Speech

Sometimes a member of the club, or a specially invited guest, will present an educational speech about matters relating to public speaking (such as computer based presentations, the value of being prepared, how to give good feedback etc).  These educational speeches have no specific length, but can last from 5 minutes up to an hour.

General Evaluation

There then follows the General Evaluation, when the General Evaluator for the evening will give his/her thoughts on how the meeting has been run, and also evaluates the evaluators on how they dealt with the main speakers.

Everybody present votes for the best Speaker and Evaluator.

And at the end the President presents the prizes for Best Speaker, Best Evaluator, and Best Table Topics.

Come along and learn to Speak effectively, convince, and persuade - at our next Toastmasters meeting in Solihull, Birmingham

Just reading this, it may sound a little daunting, but remember that everybody there is, or has been, in the same boat as you, and is there to encourage you! Come along and dispel those fears and have some fun at the same time.

It is a great experience, you learn some valuable speaking and communication skills, and, of course, it is good fun too!  We meet on the 1st and 3rd  Tuesday of every month at the Solihull Moors Football Club at 7.15pm (for a 7.30pm start).

Click for directions to Solihull Moors Football Club, Solihull, Birmingham.

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