Each meeting, two to three club members speak based on projects from the Toastmasters International Pathways Educational Program. The program is designed to blend individual creativity with skill building to enhance a speaker’s comfort and confidence in front of an audience. Most speeches are 5-7 minutes long.
2. FeedbackFeedback is crucial to becoming a better communicator. Every speaker receives a 2-3 minute oral evaluation when they give a prepared speech. Evaluators gain practice in attentive listening and learn how to highlight a speaker’s strengths as well as point to areas for improvement. The goal of feedback is to inspire the speaker to give their next speech while providing concrete suggestions for how they can advance their speaking skills.
Do you get nervous when talking to your boss? Or when asked for your ideas in a meeting of colleagues? Public speaking isn’t always a prepared presentation. How we come across in the less formal situations matters just as much. Table Topics is the part of the Toastmasters meeting where members are asked random questions and get to practice speaking for 1-2 minutes without preparation. Everyone gets better and it’s often hilarious.
Mentoring is a key part of the Century City Toastmasters experience. New members are immediately paired with a more advanced member. Your mentor will work with you on understanding how the meeting works, speech prep, giving effective evaluation, and more. Each mentor/mentee pair is unique, based on the needs and personalities involved.