Introduction to Toastmasters Internationals' speaking and leading programme Pathways

WHICH CLUB

Who can attend a Toastmasters meeting? Many Toastmasters meetings are open to the public. When they meet in person it may be in a community Centre in Singapore, a public house (known for short as a pub) in the UK. I have attended a meeting in a restaurant in Thailand and in restaurants for Christas parties in the UK, and at conference. When restaurant and hotel food s provided the members and guests usually have to pay a cost to cover the food and/or hire of the venue and tips.

A few clubs are corporate clubs. Companies such as IBM, and banks, sometimes have clubs, to improve the employees' English, their sales or PR presentations, or to improve confidence and leadership skills. Since in house meetings are held in a building with security, may involve presentation revealing company secrets, or employee vulnerability, often you must be a known toastmaster with a skill to impart, and security screening, to be invited to their meetings.

You might want to attend an in-house club. Why? For networking. To find a club meeting before work. Or in the lunch hour. Or a short 1-one and a half hour meeting. Or for businesslike speeches.

WHEN CAN YOU SPEAK

You have a chance to speak impromptu to introduce yourself at a meeting. A small club such as BHA with fewer than 20 members will usually allow every person  introduce themselves. About one minute. Prepare to say: 

1 Your name, how is is spelled, what it means, or how it is pronounced, maybe the language or meaning of the name. 

2  Your country or location. 

3 Your first language. 

4 Why you need English if English (or the language of the club) is not your first language.

5 You might add a compliment to the club or a member. Add your work, studies a hobby, travels, or something you could discuss with members. 

6 What you hope to gain from the club or meeting.

7 End with what you can contribute in return. 

8 Or use the theme of the day.

9 Or word of the day.

10 If you have joined a Path, you could mention that. If you need help, ask for help choosing a Path.

When you attend a Toastmasters meeting, you often get a chance to do a two minute table topic. You can stretch this to two and a half minutes.

After you have introduced yourself once or twice, you have spoken  1 to 4 minutes. After you have done one or two table topics, you have spoken for two times two minutes which is four minutes.

You are now ready to do the first speech in Pathways which is the same for all paths, introducing yourself to the club.

This is easy because you download the speech outline. It asks you a series of questions which you answer. Like the ones I set out above for your introduction to yourself at the start of the meeting. But you have time to tell one or two short anecdotes about your successes or failures, or amusing experience when travelling, learning a language, studying or working. Or your family, friends, colleagues, or people you have met in buildings, in the street, on the phone, or filling in application forms.

Try to end on a happy note. Suggest a topic for discussion at a future meeting between yourself and members. Tell them how to contact you. Do you primarily contact friends by phoning or emailing or on whatsapp? Are you busy daytime but free evenings and weekends? Do you want serious discussion, no nonsense? Or do you want to forget work and swap jokes and have fun?

Why Choose A Path?

Pathways are divided by subjects. Presentation mastery, is the most popular and the one most people start with. 

Level one starts with your icebreaker self-introduction. Requiring no research. You know yourself. 

Your second project is giving a speech, getting feedback, giving another speech using the feedback.  You then give another speaker feedback.

Thirdly, finally, a researched speech.   Fun to research something you want to know about. Ending by listing where the listeners can find out more.

 PATHWAYS

Pathways Levels

Level two is knowing your style. The two main projects (of the three) are learning your speaking style, and learning your leadership style. However, if you had chosen the pathway on humour, you would be speaking about your style of humour, slapstick, and so on. 

If you had picked one of the leadership projects, you might be doing as one of your three projects, a speech about time management. If you had picked a Pathway on relationships (called Strategic relationships) you would have a fun project on Emotional Intelligence on how others see you and your nationality and whether it is true and how your words and actions dispel their misconceptions. 

Useful Websites

https://www.toastmasters.org/pathways-overview

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-zpELz5n17GmfhmP_0o_tDxYi1dceyd1/view