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10 Tips To Improve Your Public Speaking:


  • Know the room. Be familiar with where you will be speaking.  Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
  • Know the audience. Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It's easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
  • Know your material.  If you're not comfortable with your material you will be nervous. Practice your speech and revise it, if necessary.
  • Relax. Ease tension by doing exercises.
  • Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and assured. When your visualize yourself successful, you will be successful.
  • Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They do not want you to fail.
  • Don't apologize. If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience's attention to something they hadn't noticed.
  • Concentrate on the message - not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Turn nervousness into positive energy. Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.
  • Gain experience. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need.   

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10 More Tips To Improve Your Public Speaking:

  • Have a clear, specific message.  Your presentation may have more than one major point, but each one should support the same overall message.  Distill it down to one uncomplicated sentence.  If you can’t state your message in one sentence, chances are your audience won’t get it.
  • Target your message.  The single most important part of any speech is the audience. If you’re not talking to your audience, you’re talking to yourself.  Focus your presentation on how your message will affect the audience.
  • Hook ‘em.  The first thing you have to do with any presentation is to get the audience’s attention.  For instance, you can ask a question.  You can tell a story.  You can present a startling fact.  The technique you use must be relevant to your message, and you must make the connection clear to your audience. 
  • Set ‘em.  Once you have your audience’s attention, you need to set the hook.  Let them know why your message is important to them, and persuade them to listen to it.
  • Haul ‘em in.  Follow through on the promise you made with your opening.  It’s okay to leave them wanting more, but make sure you give them what you implied you would present.
  • Build bridges.  Lead the audience through your presentation.  Connect your major points with either logical or emotional bridges.  The connection will help them remember what you said.
  • Captivate them.  Illustrate your points with stories, dramatic facts, powerful quotations.  Then help them understand the connection between your points and your illustrations.
  • Use humor.  Humor is very effective for keeping your audience’s attention.  Even a serious speech needs some relief.  Break up the seriousness with humor.  Just be sure the humor is appropriate for the situation. 

  • Vary the mood.  Especially for a long presentation, changing the mood keeps the audience interested.

  • Make it memorable.  Finish your presentation by giving the audience something that will help them remember what you said.  For instance, tell a story that illustrates your message and summarize using that story.  Make your ending easy to remember, make it connect back to your opening, and make it help the audience focus on your message. (These tips from Gordon Savage of the Gates Toastmasters, Denver.)    

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Toastmasters Acronyms and Other Terms

  • AL-B (ADVANCED LEADER - BRONZE)  Achieved Competent Leader Award Achieved Competent Communicator Award (or CTM) Served at least six months as a club officer and participated in the preparation of a Club Success Plan  While serving as an officer, participated in a district-sponsored officer training program Conducted any two programs from the Successful Club Series and/or the Leadership Excellence Series AL-S (ADVANCED LEADER SILVER) Achieved Advanced Leader Bronze award (or “old” Competent Leader award) Served a complete term as a district officer (district governor, lieutenant governor, public relations officer, secretary, treasurer, division governor or area governor) Completed the High Performance Leadership program Served successfully as a club sponsor, mentor or coach  
  • ACB (ADVANCED COMMUNICATOR BRONZE) Achieved Competent Communicator award (or achieved Competent Toastmaster award) Completed two Advanced Communication manuals ACS (ADVANCED COMMUNICATOR SILVER) Achieved Advanced Communicator Bronze award (or achieved Able Toastmaster award or Advanced Toastmaster Bronze award) Completed two additional advanced communication manuals (may not be those completed for any previous award) Conducted any two programs from The Better Speaker Series and/or The Successful Club Series ACG (ADVANCED COMMUNICATOR GOLD) Achieved Advanced Communicator Silver award (or achieved Able Toastmaster Bronze award or Advanced Toastmaster Silver award) Completed two additional advanced communication manuals (may not be those completed for any previous award) Conducted a Success/Leadership Program, Success/Communication Program or a Youth Leadership Program Coached a new member with the first three speech projects
  • CL (COMPETENT LEADER) - This award is given to those completing the Competent Leadership manual.
  • CC (Competent Communicator) - This in the award given to individuals completing all ten of the speeches in the Competent Communication manual.
  • DCP (Distinguished Club Plan) - The DCP year runs July 1 to June 30 each year. To qualify, a club must finish the year with 20 members OR have a net gain of five members during that time span. Distinguished A club is Distinguished if they meet a minimum of 5 of the 10 DCP goals.
  • DTM (DISTINGUISHED TOASTMASTER) Achieved Advanced Communicator Gold award (or achieved Advanced Toastmaster Gold award) Achieved Advanced Leader Silver award (or achieved Advanced Leader award) Distinguished Toastmaster is the highest recognition a member may receive.      

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Meeting Duties For Members  

Guest Greeter: This person is the one-person welcoming committee for the day’s meeting. The Guest Greeter (GG) should arrive early and greet all members as well as any guests attending the meeting. The GG also introduces guests during the meeting when called upon by the Chairman. Be sure to have the guest sign the guest book, fill out a guest information card, and prepare a name badge for each guest. If there is no visiting guest, the GG should introduce one member of the club. This gives the GG a chance to take part in the meeting.

Chairperson: The chairperson calls the meeting to order, ensuring the meeting starts and ends on time. The Chairperson leads the club in the Pledge of Allegiance, and leads the morning exercise. The Chairperson then calls on the Guest Greeter to introduce guests or visiting dignitaries. The chair also introduces the Toastmaster for the day’s meeting. The Chairperson should get with the TM before the day of the meeting to get a good introduction. At the close of the meeting the chairperson calls for announcements and reviews the schedule for the following week’s meeting. The Chairperson should bring a copy of the next week’s meeting. Finally, the Chairperson adjourns the meeting.

Toastmaster (TM): The TM sets the tone for the meeting and strives to create an atmosphere of interest, expectation, fun, and receptivity. The TM may choose to have a theme for the meeting, and if so, should contact the Table Topics Master and Word of the Day Master in case they want to use the theme for their roles. The TM also prepares the agenda and ensures that the participants are prepared for the meeting.  The TM should email the membership well before the meeting to ensure all functionaries are ready to perform their duties, or have found a replacement. If necessary, the TM may have to call one or more members if email doesn’t accomplish this. The TM should list the titles and speech information for each speaker on the agenda.

Speaker: One of the major toastmaster duties is to give a series of prepared speeches from one of the TM manuals. Each speech generally lasts from 5-7 minutes (but can vary depending on the manual and the speech requirements) and has associated with it a list of specific goals or objectives to achieve. The speaker should contact the TM prior to the meeting with speech information for the agenda. This info should include speech name, time, and manual information. The speaker should also provide the TM with a written introduction. All members should be ready to speak on their assigned weeks, should always give manual speeches, and should be diligent in staying within the stated times for their speeches.

Table Topics Master: The Table Topics Master (TTM) prepares and issues the impromptu topics for members to answer. The TTM is encouraged to be as original as possible in selecting the topics and to challenge members to “Think on Their Feet”. There will generally be time for 3-5 topics. The time should be spent on speaking, not on long lead-ins by the TTM. The topics may have a theme, such as the meeting theme set by the TM, or they can be free form.

Master Evaluator: The Master Evaluator (ME) has two roles. The first is to introduce the speech evaluators, and the second is to evaluate anything and everything that takes place during the meeting.  The ME will let members know when they succeed in their missions and will identify areas for improvement. At the request of the TM, the ME may call for reports from the meeting functionaries. Evaluator: The Evaluator provides an oral evaluation of a prepared speech.  An effective evaluation will praise the speaker for their strong points and will provide suggestions for further development and improvement.  Even the best speaker can learn from an accurate evaluation. This is an extremely important role, and should be done with sincerity and tact.

Timer: The Timer is responsible for keeping track of the time for each timed portion of the meeting: table topics, prepared speeches, and evaluations. The timer records all times on the timer’s sheet and reports the times when called upon.

Ah Counter/Grammarian: Notes words and sounds such as “ah” or “uh” used as a “crutch” or “pause filler” by anyone who speaks during the meeting. Also comments on the use of the English language during the course of the meeting.

Word of the Day: Introduces a new word to members and comments on the use of the word during the course of the meeting. Tip of the Day: Brings a tip on almost any subject to share with the membership. The tip could be related to speaking, health, finances, vacations, education. The list of topics is long.

Vote Counter: Tallies the votes made by members and guests for the following awards: Best Table Topics Speaker, Best Prepared Speaker, Best Evaluator. The results of the voting are reported when called upon by the TM.

Videographer Runs the video camera for those speakers who have brought a memory card.

Joke Master: The Joke Master will provide the club with a joke or two.  Humor is good medicine for everyone. Toastmasters is no exception.

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Duties of Club Officers:

President:
Outside the Club meeting: Attend district sponsored training Oversee plan to achieve DCP goals Oversee educational accomplishments Ensure an ongoing membership program Attend and vote at District council meetings Oversee executive committee meetings Prepare your successor At the meeting: Ensure meeting starts and ends on time Make sure guests are warmly greeted and enthusiastically welcomed and introduced Speak to guests before and after meeting Discuss with members the club’s DCP progress Recognize member achievements in TM and their personal lives

Immediate Past President: Provide guidance and act as a resource for club officers and members Chairs the Nominating Committee Assists in preparation of the Club Success Plan Attend district sponsored training

Vice President Education: Plan and schedule club meetings Monitor club educational goals Orient new members Assign mentors to new members Ensure Successful Club Series programs are presented at least quarterly Initial speakers’ Records of Assignments Help members complete award applications   Attend district sponsored training

Vice President Membership Conduct ongoing membership programs   Follow-up with new guests, new members, and old members no longer attending meetings   Explain the educational program to prospective members and guests   Accept, collect dues and fees and give to treasurer   Greet guests and have them complete guest card   Help guests wishing to join to complete application     Attend district sponsored training

Vice President Public Relations Promote the club to local media   Announce upcoming events     Attend district sponsored training     Secretary Maintain an accurate club roster   Mail Club officer list to World HQs within 10 days of elections   Handle club correspondence   Keep club files   Take minutes at Executive Committee meetings     Attend district sponsored training     Treasurer Prepare club budget Keep club account signature card current Prepare and send dues to World HQs Pay bills Keep records of all financial transactions   Attend district sponsored training

Sergeant at Arms Schedule meeting location Maintain club equipment Arrange club meeting room for each meeting Arrange for food service at meal meetings   Attend district sponsored training  

WebGoddess:  Rule the World.

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