Toastmasters, anyone?

[Krakista]

Anyone a member of Toastmasters here?

I've been a member of Toastmasters for a little over two years and it has been great. Yes, it's like having a workout facility for public speaking and presentations complete with an audience.

As a hobby, think of it as simply an outlet for expression and it's really fun. I am not really afraid of boo-boos because it's simply okay to make such mistakes and learn from them with Toastmasters. It is also entertainment as I watch others do their thing. Yep, it's like watching American Idol but this is for people who can't sing and dance. Or going to a comedy club. I take pleasure in seeing some of the members progress into better speakers and presenters.

I also get to party and meet lotsa people. I only have to pay the membership fee for one club and I get visit or, in Toastmasters lingo, clubhop to several other Toastmasters clubs in Metro Manila. I also have privileges to hop to clubs throughout the country and the entire planet.

For more information, visit the Toastmasters International website.

[xfreemanx]

I am. Now which structure should I use to best answer your question. PREP, PPF, SMB...? hehe

[Krakista]

One of the members in our club introduced a new pattern for those going around in circles or PII for short--paikot-ikot.

[Krakista]

I will be clubhopping again next week. This will be my itinerary:

Sultan Toastmasters Club, Causeway Timog, QC
Monday, March 3, 7:00PM

Emperor Mandarin Toastmasters Club, Causeway Banawe, QC
Wednesday, March 5, 7:30PM

El Presidente Toastmasters Club, Max's Shaw, Mandaluyong
Thursday, March 6, 7:30PM

CaMaNaVa Toastmasters Club, Causeway Banawe, QC
Saturday, March 8, 10:30AM

PM me or post here if anyone is interested in coming on board.

If you're in Makati, there's Butter N Toast Toastmasters Club that meets tomorrow, Feb.28, 7:00PM at the old MSE Penthouse function room.

[grilled_furious]

i want to join this club but it is too much expensive. kindly please send me the details.....

[Krakista]

Hi grilled_furious. There are really some clubs that are much too expensive as they choose to hold their meetings in function rooms of hotels and fine dining restaurants.

Membership fees also vary from PhP 1600 to PhP 3500 for the first six months and from PhP 1500 to PhP 2500 every six months thereafter.

Basically you have to look at what's included and what's not. You have to look at your total expenses--transportation, parking fees, food, room share, and membership dues.

None of the clubs listed above fall under the expensive club category. You will see three clubs holding meetings at Causeway Seafood Restaurant. Causeway does not charge US a minimum and the use of their function rooms. You can order congee, noodles, or dimsum and your bill should be between PhP 100-150 per meal. You also have a choice of going the expensive route by going lauriat. Some clubs charge higher membership fees but it's ALL IN and that includes food and share of the room rent. Some clubs pay the bills of first time attendees but that makes for a more interesting cast attending the club.

Lastly, find a schedule and location convenient for you whether by car (preferably with free parking) or public transportation.

[sweetwahm]

I haven't been to a Toastmaster's meeting in almost 2 years!

[RetroManila]

I've heard about this.

Is it focused on public speaking?

How does a meeting go?

[Krakista]

A typical Toastmasters club meeting is divided into three parts:

1. Impromptu speeches
2. Prepared speeches
3. Feedback

Preliminaries
The Sergeant at Arms opens each meeting, then passes control of the meeting to the presiding officer -- usually the club's president. The president will lead in prayer, welcome guests, have some opening remarks, then call upon the evening's "Toastmaster" (think Master of Ceremonies or emcee). The presiding officer will then pass control of the meeting to the evening's Toastmaster.

The Toastmaster will then call upon the Anything Goes Master to help begin the meeting with some laughter and loosen up the crowd. He or she will ask people to come up on the lectern to do anything--deliver a joke, sing a song, ask trivia questions, or anything else that can be shared. Afterwards, the Anything Goes Master returns control to the Toastmaster.

Impromptu Speeches
The Toastmaster will then call upon the Topics Master to lead us in the impromptu portion of the meeting. Everyone is afforded an opportunity to speak at every meeting. During "Table Topics", members with little or no speaking role are called upon to stand and address a point or answer a question given to them on-the-spot. They are to do their best to give a one- to two-minute speech on their given topic. This is an exercise in "thinking on our feet" just like what they do in beauty contests. Last year's Miss Earth Philippines Jean Harn actually had a lot of practice as she's a Toastmasters member.

Prepared Speeches
Members giving prepared speeches each work out of a Toastmasters speech manual. These manuals each have several speech projects, each project teaching a specific communication skill (e.g. gestures, vocal variety, organization, etc.) New members work on the ten projects in the Competent Communicator manual, while advanced members work from their choice of any of the fifteen advanced manuals.

Each speech has a range of minutes it is expected to be completed within. For example, the first speech, "The Icebreaker" is a four- to six-minute speech. Others are often five- to seven-minutes, eight- to ten-minutes, etc.

A member is assigned to operate the timing lights to let the speakers know where they stand within their speech project's time range. A green light indicates that the speaker has reached the minimum time allotment and may conclude at any time. A yellow light appears half-way through the time range, and a red light appears at the end of the allotted time range. Speakers actually have a 30-second grace period to wrap up their speeches.

Feedback
Finally, the Toastmaster calls upon the General Evaluator to lead the evaluation team. Each prepared speaker was assigned a speech evaluator to provide positive and constructive feedback on the given speech. A "Grammarian" tells us how well we used the English language, and an "Ah" Counter (who has been clicking our "ahs" throughout the meeting) will report on our use of "crutch" words and sounds throughout the meeting.

The presiding officer will return to handle any end-of-the-meeting business, ask guests to return, and close the meeting.

If, at the end of the meeting, you decide you want to join ... fill up a membership application form.

[RetroManila]

hmmm... i don't what to sound off... what are the people like at toastmasters? school/work background and all...

[Krakista]

The people at Toastmasters are mostly friendly, sociable people. They're mostly businesspeople and professionals--IT personnel, managers, salespeople, school teachers, nurses, government employees, politician neverbeens (in other words, laging talo), beauty contestants (to practice thinking on their feet when the Q&A portion comes) and there are a few professional Toastmasters who've turned speaking into a career.

[quichelorraine]

They're professionals, like the people I met at Butter N Toast, most of them are already working (that includes me). Some are HR Personnels, others would be a boss of a particular company, another one I've met was a PR personnel who, obviously, is good in speaking but he would still like to hone his PR skills maybe, others like me, works in the production area.

School? Hadn't met anybody who was from any University at that time. Try attending BnT, they're a fun group (well, that's from what I've heard)

Hey, Krak. When are you gonna visit BnT?

Can one attend Toastmasters - almost everytime - without signing up for membership?

[Krakista]

Hey, Krak. When are you gonna visit BnT?

I don't know yet but I'll post it here when I intend to pay them a visit. I will be visiting a new company club tomorrow night--OCCI Toastmasters in Ortigas. Sorry, it's only by invitation and not open to the public.

Can one attend Toastmasters - almost everytime - without signing up for membership?

No. That would be unfair for those members who pay their dues. At the surface, Toastmasters is a lot of fun but there's more to that. Members try to achieve Toastmasters norms for their personal development and satisfaction. Of course, you can put that in your resume. See LINK

These are what those initials stand for:

CC - Competent Communicator
CL - Competent Leader
ACB - Advanced Communicator Bronze
ALB - Advanced Leader Bronze
ACS - Advanced Communicator Silver
ALS - Advanced Leader Silver
ACG - Advanced Communicator Gold
DTM - Distinguished Toastmaster

[Krakista]

Toastmasters Philippines will hold its Division A Contest this afternoon at 2PM at Transco, Quezon Avenue corner BIR Road, Diliman, QC. Division A consists of 26 clubs located north of the Pasig River in Metro Manila.

I will post the sked for next week later.

[Krakista]

Emperor Toastmasters will be having a Toastmasters session tonight at Causeway Banawe. District Governor DTM Gina Mapua will be the General Evaluator for tonight. Just us drop us a line via SMS to the number on this LINK before coming over.

So if you have nowhere to go, nothing to do tonight, why not join us? Everyone's invited.

[Krakista]

El Presidente Toastmasters Club, Max's Shaw, Mandaluyong
Thursday, March 27, 7:30PM

CaMaNaVa Brunch Toastmasters Club, Causeway Banawe, QC
Saturday, March 29, 10:30AM

[pretenred1]

hi... I want to join this
but how to start?
Thanks!

[Krakista]

First of all, find a schedule and location that is suitable for you. Are you joining a club that's close to work or close to home? Then inform the club you've chosen that you're going to pay the club a visit. Next, visit that club to see if the club's for you or not. If it's for you then pay your membership dues and prepare for your icebreaker speech project.

[Krakista]

Emperor Mandarin Toastmasters Club, Causeway Banawe, QC
Wednesday, April 2, 7:30PM

El Presidente Toastmasters Club, Max's Shaw, Mandaluyong
Thursday, April 3, 7:15PM

[Krakista]

Sultan Toastmasters Club, Causeway Timog QC
Monday, April 7, 6:00PM

El Presidente Toastmasters Club, Max's Shaw, Mandaluyong
Thursday, April 10, 7:00PM

CaMaNaVa Brunch Toastmasters Club, Causeway Banawe, QC
Saturday, April 12, 10:30AM