Completion requirements
This lesson will help you lay the foundation for your success by making sure you get access to various online resources, including Toastmasters International, Easy Speak, and so on. You'll also take steps to get setup with a mentor and decide your goals.
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.