Getting Setup

1. Toastmasters International Account

Before your membership application is processed, make sure you add the domain "toastmasters.org" to your e-mail spam exclusion filters (also known as "spam whitelist" or "safe sender" list) to make sure e-mail from Toastmasters International (TI) gets to you.

After your membership application is processed, you should receive a welcome e-mail from TI (if you don't, either you haven't been registered or something is wrong with e-mail between TI and you). You'll want to go to their website, then select the Login link to get to a screen like this:

You can use the Forgot Password? option to go to another screen that will prompt you for your e-mail. Enter the e-mail that you used on your new member application, then select submit.

This should get your account information sent to your e-mail. If you do not receive this information within 15 minutes, try again after making sure your e-mail's spam filters allow all mail from toastmasters.org. If you still have trouble after that, you may need to contact TI's support line to make sure the e-mail they have on file for you is good.

Once you have your account information, go back to the TI homepage, and use the Login menu item, then make sure your login works.

After you are logged in, you'll want to verify your profile information is good. You can use this link or you can click the "Welcome <Your Name>" link at the top of the page. You'll then see your profile, and should verify that the contact information is correct. 

It's highly recommended that you save your login information into a program like KeePass so you won't lose it. Also, make sure you bookmark/favorite the TI website.

2. Membership Survey & Your Goals

3. Pathways Setup

Now that you have your TI account and have done some work to clarify and crystallize your goals, you should be ready to select your Pathway. 

First, start by going to TI's homepage. Next up, you'll want to locate the Pathways link, then select the Take the Assessment link. As of this writing (5/30/2018), it looks like this:

Once there, you can select either online materials (preferred), or printed materials (costs extra). For this course, I'll assume you're using online materials. 

Step through the assessment (you can optionally manually choose a path). District 4 has an excellent reference to all Pathways if you want to see what each one involves. District 55 has some tutorial videos that can help as well. Once done, you'll be able to access Base Camp.

4. Easy Speak Setup

For this chapter, I'm assuming your club uses Easy Speak as it's member site for tracking goal progress. 

As you should have done with Toastmasters International, make sure to add the domain "easy-speak.org" to your e-mail whitelists to make sure e-mail from Easy Speak does not get flagged as spam.

A club officer should setup your Easy Speak account after you join, and you will receive an e-mail with your user name and password. Once you have this, go to your club's Easy Speak site and confirm that you can login.

As of 5/30/2018, the login form is at the top left, and looks like this:

As you did with TI, make sure to bookmark or favorite this site, as well as enter your login information into KeePass.

After you're logged in, you will see your club's iteration of Easy Speak. The first thing you should do is update your profile. To do that, go to the top menu bar, then select Profile, then Profile:

On the next screen, go one tab at a time, changing items as needed. To be on the safe side, use the Save button before changing tabs. Once you've completed updates, use the Save button.

HINT: You can update your user name if you don't like the one you were assigned.

Once you are done, you can move on to the next area to setup.

5. FreeToastHost Setup

If your club uses FreeToastHost (FTH) as its main meeting planning site, you'll need to make sure you can login to it.

Make sure you add the domain "toastmastersclubs.org" to your e-mail spam whitelist filters (may be known as a "safe sender" list). This will allow e-mails to come from your FTH site.

You should receive an e-mail from your club's FTH site when you are setup. If you do not, contact your club's point of contact for your FTH site and have them verify your e-mail. 

On the home page of your site, there is a button on the sidebar that has "Member Login". Select this.

Once you do this, you'll see a login screen appear. 

Follow the directions there, then use Authenticate / Login to get signed in. If you don't have your password, just fill in the Email, Name, or Username field, then select Authenticate / Login to have the system send you your password. 

The Members Only section will now have active links. You'll want to use the Edit Your Profile link, as shown here:

In the window that appears, make sure your information is correct.

As with other sites, make sure you bookmark or favorite the site, and save your login information into a program like KeePass.

6. Mentor & First Project Setup

RDG TM clubs have a mentor or accountability buddy system firmly in place, though newer or weaker clubs may not. In almost all cases, your fellow members are willing to help you get started speaking. 

The first step is to talk to your club's VP of Education. Ask them about the mentor program. If there is one, let them know that you'd like to be placed into it. If there isn't, start by observing club members and approaching ones you feel comfortable with. Pay attention to how they perform the General Evaluator and speech evaluator roles; this will give you insight as to how they will critique your speech. Ask them if they would coach you through your first few speeches. Be aware that they may already have a high mentee count, or they may not want to take on any at the time.

If your club is new or there aren't enough mentors, ask the VP of Education if there's an accountability buddy program if you aren't given one to start with. If not, talk to fellow club members to see if any are interested. If your club is using Easy Speak, you can use the forums for your club to post check-ins. If not, determine how you're going to keep each other honest - it could be e-mail, it could be a weekly call, a FaceBook or LinkedIn group you use, or whatever works for you. The goal is to make sure that each of you are putting in the time and effort to progress, whether that's checking to see how far along you are with your next project, or if you're set for your next role. 

Once you have this, you should prepare for your first project, which is the Icebreaker. You have 4-6 minutes to introduce yourself to the club. Most people talk about the following:

• Where they were born & where they grew up
• Their education
• What they used to do for work
• What they now do for work
• Their family
• Their hobbies
• Their goals and aspirations

You can decide what you feel comfortable sharing and what's of interest, of course. The important thing is to get this project done within a month of coming on board with the club; I've noticed members that don't commit to getting this first project done (really, the first three) will likely quit the club in fairly short order. You want to build the habit of doing at least one project per month, on average. Make sure you communicate with the VPE that you want to get your Icebreaker setup for the next month after you join, if not sooner. 

For your first speech, I recommend drafting out what you're going to say and give that to your mentor or accountability buddy at least two weeks in advance (for a 4-6 minute speech, this is about 500-600 words, depending on your rate, though keep the the middle of this range). If you can, meet with them after a few revisions to do some practice runs. After that, condense your speech into two sheets of bullet points in a very large (26-32 point) font that you can lay side-by-side for easy reference. These can be used when you give your speech if you need them. Otherwise, practice until you have the content down, especially your opening and closing.

7. TM Binder & Digital File Setup

Having a binder or folder with some essential resources will help you throughout your Toastmasters career. I recommend having the following put into a 1" or larger binder to take with you to every meeting:

• A copy of your goals, to remind you of them.
• Your manuals or printed evaluation materials.
• Red, yellow, and green folders, in case you need emergency timer flags.
• Blank paper and pens. 
• Note cards (large index cards are good). These are useful for impromptu speeches or Table Topics activities.
• Meeting role worksheets if your club does not stock these.
• Cheat sheets for meeting roles if you need them.
• Whatever else you find useful, inspiring, motivational, or just fun.

You will inevitably have digital materials to manage as well. I recommend OneNote or EverNote for keeping notes, which can include the following:

• Speech ideas and topics
• Speech notes
• Story file (a place to keep stories for later use)
• Joke file
• Miscellaneous

A folder system on your PC is also useful for maintaining Toastmasters documents, such as the worksheets and checklists you can download from these courses.

Now that you're setup, it's time to learn about other aspects of getting started in Toastmasters.