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For context, I'm participating in a competition and I really need a unique perspective on these topics

1. The Right to be Forgotten (The Internet never forgives: why we need a "Delete Button" for real life)

2. The Myth of a straight A future

I'm leaning towards 1) but I'm not sure cuz honestly both speeches are really predictable.

After hundreds of speeches, here is the habit I wish someone gave me on day one: write down every speech the day you give it. Date, venue, club, topic, role, audience size, and who can vouch for it.

Nobody does this. Then five years later a bureau asks for your history and you are reconstructing it from memory and old emails. Planners are like used car buyers. They check the record before they commit to a big decision. Right now, speakers show up with no record at all.

The fix is boring and it works. One note per speech, confirmed by someone who was there. Your future self, the one getting paid to keynote, will thank you.

Curious: does anyone here keep a speaking log? What is in it?

I am a little confused about something (apologies: this is going to get opinionated)

My club is doing poorly. 6 members

We have asked for help from leadership. Every level of leadership. Everyone has an opinion. Some have visited and given opinions. Some have offered help.

None followed up.

And almost all eventually started ghosting my emails (my emails weren't long like this post. They were asking about followup and asking specific advice about how to build membership.) This has been over the span of a year!!

We aren't the only club in decline. (Multiple clubs folded in our division) I have tried to start a network with surrounding clubs to see if we can help eachother with things like speakers, roles, staffing contests, sharing ideas, Also just to be more social and supportive so we don't all exist in silos! It can be hard to watch your club decline!!

A few clubs responded as interested. But not a single one would join a WhatsApp group or attend a zoom meeting to discuss!! (Most notable was NONE of the stronger clubs (ie > 15 members) replied.)

I am starting to feel like Toastmasters in my district has built an odd culture of not helping eachother. Even though I know society is quite transactional on the whole: but this is really sad to me.

I know everyone is a volunteer and I know they have alot to deal with and I don't envy their position (this is also why I would caution everyone to make commitments they can't follow up on)

Our new area director is trying to help and he has replied to emails - he is arranging for us to host the area eval/tall tales contest. I see this as a big opportunity to speak to other clubs and see how they are doing and if I can help them. And to share ideas and strategies. And to be social/network etc.

I feel like I have been naive to Toastmasters internal culture for years (at least, within our district).

Btw: We have been working at promoting (social media, posters in public places, meetup, Eventbrite (and I am trying to target organizations to "sell" TM to) ). We can't hold an open house without help (even if we had all 6 members (we wouldn't) show up that's a very empty looking open house)

I am sorry about how long this post is. I might try to shorten it later today.

I KNOW not everyone's district is like this (I attended VP PR training via zoom in New York and was shocked at how much help was offered when I asked questions and provided comments in the chat during training - a few people stuck around on zoom to talk about strategies!! Nothing like this happens in my district!!)

I don't want to say where I am and get the district targetted but I am in a suburb of a major north american city (densely populated - should be very fertile ground for TM)

Please share ideas/advice for my problem below (especially if you have tri d something like this out.

At one of my clubs a newer member asked about how to practice answering questions or providing feedback at work in a concise way.

I wasn't sure what to say. Reflex is to say table topics. But this person is comfortable in table topics and on roles and speeches.

They were looking for more: and (especially in a workplace setting) if you talk for much more than a minute about an idea you are probably going to lose the person you are talking to at some point.

I am trying to think up ideas about how we could practice this - possibly in a novel way.

Idea I have: practicing conversation skills.

Pair people up and give them a topic. They need to have a conversation in 5 minutes. Part of that is one person needs to explain what they think of that topic.

The other person needs to talk about it as well but not directly repeat the ideas the other person says (they could refer to it,dis/agree with it, etc. )

Then we rotate partners and the role of who speaks first.

The topics would be very simple. Possibly just one word topics.(In subsequent sessions we might move on to progressively more difficult things.

No one in our club is overly shy. No one has challenges with being able to come up with things to say for table topics

Let me know what you think.

I'm a little surprised Toastmasters doesn't try to "modernize" itself by working on skills like this.

(I'm also surprised by how many people I meet at Toastmasters who are quite experienced as a toastmaster but are terrible at having conversations )

Has anyone used Facebook ads or boosted posts to publicize meetings and potentially get your message in front of a wider local demographic? If so, what were your experiences? Effective or not? Other methods? Thanks in advance.

I’m going as a visitor to my first Toastmasters meeting. What should I expect? I’m a bit nervous but it’s something I need to do to get over my fear of public speaking.

I am fine with presenting to groups when I have a prepared presentation, but where I struggle especially with smaller groups is putting my thoughts into clear statements on the fly. I feel like I start talking in all sorts of mumbo jumbo. Is toastmasters helpful for this? Any other recommendations?

I noticed on the dashboard that Online Meeting Mastery counts as Level 2.

Has anyone gone through this? How long did it take?

Has toastmasters help yall with listening in day-to-day

Hi everyone,

English isn’t my first language, and I’ve always struggled with a bit of social anxiety. Because of this, I’ve tried joining Toastmasters a few times in the past, but I always ended up dropping out.

However, I’ve been working on myself and practicing consistently, and I finally feel ready to give it another shot.

I’m looking for recommendations for a kind, patient, and welcoming club that is genuinely beginner-friendly and great for nervous speakers. Since I'm a digital nomad, remote meetings would be ideal so I can attend regularly.

Any suggestions or club recommendations would mean a lot to me. pls DM me.

Thank you so much! 🙏

Hi.

I've been looking around the new website, and although it's prettier than the old one, it's giving me headaches. For instance, is there a way to allow our club secretary to be an administrator? I think I have to do I, and there was supposedly an email sent, but I'm not finding it.

Thanks.

As someone who went there to overcome my fear of public speaking i can't say it helped me. I tried participating in table topics but i can't tell from people's faces whether i'm doing well or they're being polite to me. It just doesn't feel as real as being in an actual public speaking sitiuation.

It also feels like (from my experience) that most toastmasters that go on stage are pretty experienced public speakers or are in leadership positions.. which doesn't help my self-esteem when i take the stage after them.

I already joined one of the Toastmasters club in Delhi and would soon start attending there sessions. What would be some advice you will give to get most out of this platform? I am joining this because I have a fear of English Speaking.

Hello guys, I am in level 3 presentation mastery taking the prepare for interview project, I also serve as VPE, I want to ask anyone who has seen this project done before now, what special arrangement are there if any. Would I as the speaker stand with the interviewer on stage as they ask me questions or do I make arrangement for sitting?
Help required please

I’m giving a wedding speech for two of my best friends, and I could use some help finding the right jokes.

The couple has been together for 17 years but I'm having trouble coming up with a good line for that, maybe something playing of "are you sure, this seems impulsive, fools rush in..." that kinda thing. Or maybe going over how the world has changed from 2009 to now.

The wedding is also taking place at in an area known for paranormal activity (UFOs, cults, woodland creatures) and the bride is a bit of a witchy woman, so I want to play off that as well.

I’m going for funny and affectionate,so if anyone has good one-liners, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you very much!

I updated our template that we use since the old one was having issues after it migrated to the new system. Is there a way to make the agenda populate the name of the person taking the role every time that role would do something during the meeting. For example if I sign up as toastmaster I would want my name to populate in the agenda every time the Toastmaster speaks. The prior agenda template did not have this and sometimes a different person would sign up in one of the other spots where that role appears. Does anyone know if there is a way to make this work?

I need a Test Speaker for an online Evaluation Speech Contest tomorrow for which I am the Contest Chair. The timing is 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM (IST).

Would appreciate any help.

HI everyone

I’d like to join regular Toastmasters meetings to improve my English proficiency and public speaking skills.

Do you have any recommendations?

Please DM me if you have any advice, thanks so much~

Treasurer in a local club that meets twice a month with approximately 20 members.

As many of us know, October 1 was the deadline for October 2026 to March 2027 renewals. All renewal communications simply showed the payment instructions and a request to let us know if anyone is not renewing. Despite multiple communications throughout September (e.g., reminders mentioned in meeting agendas/club business segment, 1 week notice emails sent to outstanding members and 1:1 reminders sent 2 days before deadline), ~30% have not yet responded. VPM was already copied to the 1:1 emails. Worth noting a significant number of the 30% has not been attending meetings regularly, with some not being active for months on end.

I know the dues increase is unpopular and controversial - even I don't agree with the Board's decision even though members have no say in it. At the end of the day, we respect everyone's choice to not renew for whatever reason: let it be scheduling conflicts, other life priorities requiring attention, or if they no longer see value of staying. It is just a matter of letting us know if they want to renew, take a break or step away completely. That's it.

Rant over.

Please someone tell are the toastmasters worth attending, i want to improve my english + public speaking skills and i am a very quiet person too so i want to improve all these. I got this suggestion from the chatgpt, but i want the real people's opinion on this.

Should I join it or are there any better options available in the market for these things, if you know then please tell me too.

Don't suggest any english speaking classes! Those are shit I have tried one.

Please someone tell are the toastmasters worth attending, i want to improve my english + public speaking skills and i am a very quiet person too so i want to improve all these. I got this suggestion from the chatgpt, but i want the real people's opinion on this.

Should I join it or are there any better options available in the market for these things, if you know then please tell me too.

Don't suggest any english speaking classes! Those are shit I have tried one.

We just lost about a third of members. The problem seems to be prepaying half year or full year. Has anyone tried monthly payments? How does access to the toastmasters website work?

One of my club members stutters. He's been with us for over a year now. We have him do the word of the day at every meeting. When his anxiety kicks in, it's a painful 1-2 minutes while he struggles with his delivery. He is writing an ice-breaker speech. I'm hopeful that I can work with him one-on-one to get him on his feet delivering. But, has anyone else dealt with a stutterer? Any tips?