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Shaklee International Toastmasters Club invite everyone interested to learn or improve your speaking skills.

Read the transcript of the speech

00:00 Hello, I’m Stacey.

00:01 Thanks for visiting Toastmasters International, where more than 4 million people have become

00:06 more confident speakers and leaders.

00:09 They did so by visiting a Toastmasters club in their company or community.

00:14 When you visit a club, you’ll find three things: members give speeches, they take on

00:19 meeting roles and they have a great time learning.

00:22 There is no designated teacher in a Toastmasters meeting.

00:25 Instead, much of the learning happens by doing a particular task, such as giving a formal

00:31 speech or fulfilling a particular meeting role.

00:34 Ready to visit a club?

00:35 It’s free, and you can find one near you on the Toastmasters website, at www.toastmasters.org.

00:43 The purpose of the meeting roles is to help the members improve their speaking and leadership

00:47 skills by providing feedback and evaluation.

00:50 There are seven different meeting roles: Toastmaster of the day, Ah Counter, Grammarian, Timer,

00:58 Evaluator, Table Topics Master and General Evaluator.

01:03 Every meeting is started by the club president, who introduces the Toastmaster of the day.

01:08 The Toastmaster of the day is the host of the meeting.

01:11 Fulfilling this role is great practice for leading meetings.

01:15 The Toastmaster begins by introducing people who will fill other meeting roles for the

01:19 day.

01:20 He or she acts like an emcee and keeps the meeting flowing smoothly and on time.

01:26 Many clubs use an Ah Counter to document the number of “filler words” members use while

01:30 speaking.

01:31 At the end of each meeting, the Ah Counter reports how many “ahs,” “ums” and

01:35 other similar words each speaker used.

01:39 This helps members become more aware of unintended words or sounds they make when they speak.

01:44 The Grammarian helps members expand their vocabularies.

01:48 One of the Grammarian’s duties is to provide a word of the day and its definition.

01:52 If a member uses the word of the day or says something well, the Grammarian calls attention

01:57 to it.

01:58 As the name implies, the Timer records the exact length of each speech.

02:03 He or she also uses timing lights to help speakers stay within their allocated time

02:08 limits.

02:09 The General Evaluator takes notes throughout the meeting and reports back to everyone,

02:13 giving specific feedback on how well the meeting flowed and also on how future meetings might

02:18 be improved.

02:20 The general evaluator also calls for reports by the Ah Counter, Grammarian and Timer.

02:26 In every club meeting, there are at least two members who present speeches.

02:30 These speakers don’t just stand up and start talking.

02:32 They use the guidelines in their designated education manuals to prepare their presentations

02:38 and reach the objectives for each speech.

02:41 Every speaker who has prepared speeches in advance enjoys one of Toastmasters’ greatest

02:45 benefits: evaluation.

02:48 Think of it as having a friend watch you practice a speech and then give you helpful feedback.

02:53 The speaker usually meets with an evaluator before the meeting and asks for the evaluator

02:57 to pay attention to certain aspects of the talk.

03:00 After all the speeches are done, the evaluators present their feedback in front of the club,

03:06 covering areas such as: did the speakers use their hands to gesture well?

03:10 Did they control their voices throughout the speeches?

03:13 What did they do especially well, and what are some ideas for improvement?

03:18 In addition to prepared speeches, a few minutes are set aside for Table Topics®.

03:23 This is often the most challenging, but also the most fun part of our meetings.

03:27 During Table Topics, a series of questions or speaking topics are presented, and members

03:33 are selected to respond on the spot.

03:36 This is excellent training for those situations that come up in everyone’s lives where we

03:40 have to think fast and say just the right thing.

03:43 It might be a job interview, a sales meeting or a dinner conversation.

03:48 Table Topics are great for practicing and honing the skills of impromptu speaking.

03:54 Now that all the reports have been made, the President calls the meeting to a close.

03:59 Everyone joins Toastmasters with a personal goal.

04:02 Maybe it’s a goal to become a more competent presenter or learn how to run a meeting or

04:07 think faster on your feet.

04:09 Whatever it is, you can achieve your goal if you participate.

04:12 So, what’s your goal?

04:15 For more information on the club experience, please visit a Toastmasters club.

04:20 To learn more about how you can become a better speaker and leader, visit www.toastmasters.org.

04:26 To find a Toastmasters meeting near you, visit the Find a Club section at www.toastmasters.org.

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